Near Death Confessions
by wildbats
Summary: Sara's back in Vegas and not everyone is happy to see her. While working on a case with Greg bad things happen and they end up sharing their true feelings. How will the fall out affect her relationships with the two men in her life? Sandle/some GSR.
1. Chapter 1

_A/N- This story has been long in the writing process. I started this way back before season 10 even began and it's taken me this long to get it really going. So it starts off differently from Season 10 and Greg's happy to see Sara. This is not the case. He still harbors resentment about her leaving and there is strong reason behind it as you will see as the story goes. _

_I will try to post a chapter a week, if possible. Please review...thanks._

* * *

Sara Sidle stood in the layout room with Nick Stokes talking about his current case. She had only returned two days ago to help with their caseload since Riley had left and Ray was still fairly new.

She had seen everyone, expect for Greg, who had been off the last few days on a long overdue vacation. She had called and left messages for him saying she was back for a while but he never returned her calls.

She heard voices and recognized them both. She smiled as she saw Greg walk into the room with Catherine. He caught Sara's eyes briefly but did not smile. Instead he looked back at Catherine who had been giving him updates on cases.

Sara frowned and wondered what his problem was. Luckily she was going to get a chance to talk to him about it.

"Sara, you and Greg are going to be taking a little road trip out to Mt. Charleston. Two bodies were found in an abandoned car off highway156. The local police will meet you at the scene. Call them when you are near. I already gave Greg the directions," Catherine told her.

"Let's go," Greg said curtly to her as he turned to walk out of the room.

Sara gave both Nick and Catherine a _'what gives'_ look. Both of them just shrugged.

He was already waiting for her by the Tahoe when she stormed out into the LVPD parking garage. "What the hell is wrong with you Greg?" she asked him angrily.

He glared at her but went around and took her kit from her hand and put it in the back with his. "Nothing. Let's just get going. It's about an hour and a half drive."

She figured she had that time to find out what stick was up his butt about her presence. She got into the SUV and glared at him as he started the vehicle and started driving.

She waited to see if he would say anything, which he did not. "What's going on, Greg? Why are you treating me like I don't exist?"

He sighed and glanced over at her. She had let her hair grow a bit longer again since he saw her last year. She looked better if that was possible, he thought. He cursed himself for even thinking that. He was not ready to fall hard again for her.

"I know you do exist but we have a murder case to worry about. Catherine told me the two bodies were found shot multiple times in the car. The local police said they've never seen anything like it. I think she said it was a male and female couple. A truck driver who drives that county road daily discovered the car. I guess he noticed the car sitting there for a few days and finally called the locals to check it out."

She chewed her lip a moment; still mad he was avoiding her question but decided to focus on the case. "It's been like 100+ degrees this week. Are we going to have another case of human soup?" She knew he couldn't have forgotten the time he ended up tasting some by accident. She saw him make a sour face.

"Please, no but from what I heard we don't have to worry about that. We'll have some decomp though I am sure. David is supposed to be on his way ahead of us," he told her.

"Okay," she said quietly. She decided to leave it be a little bit longer before asking him why he was basically ignoring her.

They were outside the Las Vegas city limits now as the lights faded behind them. Luckily it was almost a full moon so their roadway was lit a bit with the moonlight.

She stared at him, observing his handsome stern profile. He really could still look so young at times. The music was low but she noticed he was not listening to his normal rock music. She recognized the music as a band he liked to listen to when he was upset or trying to relax. "So why have I upset you enough to pull out the Sigur Ros for our road trip?" She asked him. She saw him tighten his jaw and noticed him grip the wheel tighter.

He kept his eyes on the road but decided to finally talk to her. "Why do you keep coming back, Sara? I heard you're a married woman now, so why are you here and not with Grissom?"

She could swear she heard some hurt in his voice. "I guess I was not as burnt out as I thought I was. Grissom knows I was restless and when Ecklie called, he volunteered me. He had a seminar to teach at some college anyway. He said since he was going to be away, I might as well be too. I'm just here for a few weeks until Ecklie finds a new permanent CSI," she tried explaining to him.

"Hmm, so Sara Sidle floats in and out of my life again," he mumbled.

She heard him and got a little ticked. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He gave her an angry glare. "It means you come and go with hardly a word to anyone; to me! I thought we were friends?"

"We are!" she exclaimed.

"Then why did you leave the first time without telling me?"

"I…it…I was very upset and did not want long goodbyes. Why didn't you tell me you were upset when I last saw you?" She shot back.

"Warrick had just died. It was a hard enough time as it was," he told her. "But then you left again with hardly a word. I write you and do not hear from you. You couldn't even tell me that you got married. I had to hear it from Nick. How do you think that makes me feel? That my so-called best friend couldn't even tell me she got married!" He said angrily.

"It was sort of sudden. He came and met me in Costa Rica and it became this whirlwind type of romance suddenly. We decided to get married after we traveled some. Then we settled down and life became simple, boring even," she told him.

"So during this boring time you could not tell me anything?" He asked, his anger not diminished at all.

"I'm sorry, Greg. I was confused and I did not know what I wanted anymore. I should have called you but I was afraid of how you would react!"

"Like I am acting now? Afraid I would be angry? And why shouldn't I be mad?" He yelled.

She flinched a bit, shocked by his unusual show of anger. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you would be so mad. You knew Grissom and I were dating and very serious about each other." She tried explaining.

He stared out at the road, trying to control his anger and the frustration he felt. His frustration was mostly due to the fact that he thought he was over his feelings for her but having her here again made them all come flooding back.

"Still, friends usually tell friends big news like getting married," he told her in a low voice.

"We were traveling at first, I really did not have a chance. Then when we got home…well, things happened and I just was not thinking to tell anyone," she explained with a sigh. She was glad to see the red and blue lights ahead, knowing they were almost to their scene. She was sorry she brought up the whole thing.

Greg was also glad to get off the topic and get back to work. "That's our scene up ahead. Time to get to work," he said as he pulled up near the stakes that held up the crime scene tape. He recognized David Phillips leaning on the police car, talking to the local officer.

Once they were parked, they grabbed their kits individually and walked over to where the two men stood.

"Hey David, what do we have here?" Greg asked as they looked at the Ford Taurus, which had two bodies in the front seat. He could see they had been shot several times each but no bullet holes in the car from first glance.

"Hey guys. Each victim has multiple gun shot wounds," he told them. They walked over to the car with their flashlights on. They looked into the car.

"Looks like they were shot outside the car since there is no blood splatter in the car," Greg commented upon observation.

Sara walked over to the other side of the car to get a different view. She wrinkled her nose as she leaned in the vehicle. "She's been shot in the leg, in the arm and it looks like several other places. They had to have been moved from where they were shot and placed in this car. Do we have any ID's on them or who the car belongs to?" She asked the local cop, whose badge said Jenkins.

He looked down at a notepad he held. "No ID's on the vics but the car is registered to a Jake Nolan. We discovered he was reported missing along with his girlfriend, Amy Rands two days ago. These two seem to fit their description."

Greg shined his light down on the ground around the car looking for blood drops. "Hey, I think I found a couple drops here." He bent down and examined them closer. He pulled a swab out of his kit and tested the red stain to make sure it was blood. "It's blood alright. Maybe we will have a trail to follow."

Sara snapped a few photos of the bodies inside the car before David and his assistant removed the bodies and headed back to the morgue.

After the bodies were removed, Greg and Sara both investigated the inside of the car. "There is not that much blood in this car, considering. They must have already been dead when they were placed back in the car," Sara mused.

"Why place their bodies back in the car? It is obvious they were not killed here," Greg said as he studied the drivers' side of the car.

"That's a good question. Maybe they wanted us to find them and that's why they did this," Sara said to him. She noticed he had been avoiding eye contact with her since they arrived there. It was annoying her but she pushed those feelings aside for now.

"Well this car is filthy inside and plus it's still too dark out here to process it. I'll call to get it towed back to the lab where we can process it under better conditions. Then I'm going to see how far these blood drops go out into the woods," he said as he flipped open his cell phone.

While looking in the front seat floor area Sara noticed a lot of dirt and sand on the carpet that looked fairly fresh. The soil around the car was grassy and not good for leaving footprints. She made a mental note to check the victim's shoes when they got back.

Greg was already following a faint blood trail into the woods. Eventually he lost the trail. He thought maybe if they got some dogs to sniff out the trail they could find out where the people were initially shot.

He went back to meet Sara at the main scene. He noticed she was alone. "Where did Officer Jenkins go?"

"He got a call. He said there are only 3 guys on duty at his station. So it is just you and me for now until Auto Transport gets here to tow the car," she frowned.

"So did you find anything?" She asked.

"The trail winds a little ways into the forest. Probably some scent dogs could get a trail. If we can find where these two were originally shot, maybe we can figure who did it," he said.

"Well, this car might give us some answers too. Let's collect what we can for now before the tow comes," she told him.

The van drove by again, unnoticed by the Crime Scene investigators. "Do you think they'll figure out it was us?" A hoarse voice asked the driver.

"Only if you were sloppy, Jones, which you probably were," the driver said.

"Well then we better make sure they don't get back to their office to find anything," Jones grinned maliciously.

"You feel like a little hunting again?" His partner laughed with a gleeful look in his dark eyes.

"I'm always up for hunting some nice prey," Jones said as he rubbed his hands together.

"We got enough ammo, right?" His partner asked him.

"I reloaded before we left just in case we got in the mood."

"This might be a higher level of prey than we had before," the driver warned.

"Makes it more challenging and satisfying in the end, though," Jones said as he pulled his cap down tighter on his head.

"True. Let's find a place to keep watch out of sight so we can plan and pounce when the time is ready." The driver looked in the rear view mirror to see the bright spotlight on the crime scene in the distance. "Yeah this will be more fun."


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N-Okay this story really starts off up and running but most of this is to aim towards the reason for the title of this story. If you like so far, let me know and review!_

* * *

Greg leaned against the Tahoe as the car was pulled onto the tow truck bed. Sara sat inside to get warm. It was a cool night in the forest area.

"Okay, we're loaded up now. We'll drop it off at the lab for you guys," the tow truck driver said.

"Okay. We'll be heading back once we pack up the rest of our stuff here," Greg told him. He let Sara stay inside while he threw the rest of their equipment into the back of the Tahoe. He finally opened the driver's side door and got in. "I tried calling in and letting them know we were heading back. Reception sucks here. I think Catherine got the message though," Sara told him as he put his seat belt on.

"Yeah I know. I was lucky I got through to the auto transport before. Are you ready to go?" He asked her. He could see she was still upset about how he had been treating her.

She met his gaze for a moment. "Yes, let's go."

He was driving down the dark road with the bright lights on, highlighting the trees. He glanced back in his rearview mirror and saw another vehicle coming up fast behind them.

"We got some guy driving like a lunatic down this mountain road behind us," he mumbled.

Sara turned around and could see the headlights fast approaching. "Where could they be going so fast at 4:30 am?"

They were on a narrow two-lane road in the mountain area. Greg looked in his rearview again and became alarmed. He could see it was some sort of van and it was coming on their tail, not slowing down. "He's going to ram into us!" he exclaimed.

Sara turned around again in time to see the van barreling down on them and then hitting them. They both shifted forward but were restrained by their seatbelts.

"What the hell is their problem?" Sara yelled. Greg shook his head. He decided to pick up speed and maybe they would go around them. But the van came up on their tail again, slamming into them even harder.

"I think they are trying to run us off the road," Greg said quickly as he gripped the steering wheel tightly. "Hang on, this guy is crazy." He did not realize yet just how crazy they were.

The van started going into the other lane. Greg thought they were finally going to pass them, but he was wrong. The truck slammed into them from the side, causing the Tahoe to swerve off the road. Greg panicked, trying to get control of the SUV and get back on the road before they crashed into the trees, but the van kept pushing them until the front tires of the Tahoe went off the road. The SUV went careening off into the woods and ended up slamming into a tree.

The air bags deployed, saving the two CSI's from serious injury. They both remained dazed for a few minutes before Greg looked over to make sure Sara was okay. She was rubbing her forehead, grimacing.

"Are you okay?" he asked her.

She looked over at him. He seemed to be holding a hand to his stomach. "Yeah, just a little dazed. You?"

"Just a little sore and shook up is all. Those guys are crazy. Did you get a license by any chance?" He asked her. She shook her head slowly. "No, sorry. We better call in." She got out her cell phone but she had no signal. "I got no signal. How about you?"  
He unlocked his seat belt so it would free him up to reach into his pocket. He turned his head towards the window and suddenly saw a shotgun aimed at him. "Sara…" he said softly to her.

She looked up and saw what he saw. She reached for her weapon but was stopped by her door being ripped open and a gun being pointed in her face.

"Don't even think about it, Darling," a man dressed in hunting camouflage said. He pulled her out of the Tahoe by her arm.

"Give me your gun," he told her.

"You too," the taller of the two yelled at Greg.

"I don't carry one," he told the man. It was hard to make out their faces since it was dark out.

"Get out of the truck then," the man yelled at him. Greg did as he was told.

Sara handed her gun over to the armed man by her. "What do you want?" She asked him. He chuckled darkly. "Well my dear, we feel like doing some hunting and you two are our prey tonight," he snickered.

Greg tried to make out details of the man holding the gun on him but his flashlight blinded him. "Look we have no qualms with you. Just let us go."

"Oh, pretty boy, we'll let you go alright. We'll actually give you two a five minute head start to run for your lives. But just know we are excellent marksmen and have night vision goggles," he smirked.

"What, you're going to hunt us down like animals?" Sara asked, appalled and frightened.

"You are wild animals to us, the best kind too. Hopefully you two will give us more of a race than those other two," Jones snickered again.

Greg realized what he was saying. "You two killed that couple. You saw us at the scene. You're trying to kill us so you don't get figured out."

"The pretty boy wins a prize. Now you'll only get a four minute head start to run for your lives," the man said, who was still blinding him with the light. "Now move over by your girlfriend there," he said as he poked his gun into Greg's side.

He silently obeyed and came to stand next to Sara. He looked at her eyes wide with fear. He reached out for her hand and gave it a squeeze. She gave him a feeble smile.

"Alright you two. It's now 4:48am. You have until 4:52am to run like hell and hope we can't find you, because if we do, you will know. Now go!" The man fully dressed in camouflage yelled.

Greg looked at Sara, his hand still holding hers and nodded. She knew he was telling her to run like hell. They both darted off to the sounds of laughing behind them.

"Where the hell do we go? We can't see hardly a thing," Sara panted as she ran.

"I don't know but we keep going until we find a cabin or campers or someplace to go for help. Sunrise is not for two hours yet. If they have night vision we are screwed," Greg huffed as he ran along side her.

"I can barely see where I am going," Sara complained. Just as she said that she tripped over something. Greg caught her before she fell to the ground.

"Careful. We don't want to get injured before they are on our tails," he warned her.

"I know, I know. Just keep going. Our time is almost up," she huffed as they ran further into the woods.

Back at the SUV, Denny, the taller hunter collected all of the evidence out of the back of the Tahoe and put it in their own vehicle. "Jones, you go after them. I'll take care of this stuff. If you need help, radio me, but I'm sure you won't have any trouble," he grinned.

Jones pulled on his night vision goggles. "Nope should be easy, just as the others," he smirked. He checked his guns to make sure they were fully loaded.

"Well, I am off."

"Happy hunting, my friend. Bring home the kills," Denny told him.

"Gladly," he smirked and took off running into the woods.

Back in the woods, Greg and Sara were still running, looking for any possible signs of light to go towards. If they could find someone else to call for help they would be good.

They were slowing down as they started to tire out. "Do you think we are safe for now?" She asked him as she leaned against a tree. She could see him shake his head in the moonlight.

"I have no idea. This is nuts. How do we know they are really coming after us?"

"They seemed crazy enough to mean it," she replied.

They started walking again through the woods, trying to conserve their energy. "How long has it been?" Greg whispered to Sara, who had a watch. She had nightglow on it.

"It's been about ten minutes now. Maybe we've gotten farther away than we thought," she said to him.

"Let's hope it was all a joke to them and they were just trying to scare us," he said softly.

They were walking along quickly when suddenly a shot rang out and narrowly missed Sara's head. "Shit!" she exclaimed. "He's found us, run!"

Greg grabbed her hand again and started leading the way, as another shot rang out.

"I won't miss next time," the voice yelled out. He was true to his word as the next shot rang out and Greg heard Sara yell out in pain and fall from his grasp.

"Sara!" He bent down next to her.

"He got my leg," she said in a pained voice.

"We have to keep moving Sara or we are both dead," he told her in a worried voice as he could hear a sinister laugh not too far from them. He helped her up as she latched her arm over his shoulder to assist her.

"We need to find cover someplace so we can try to stop the bleeding," he whispered to her. She just nodded as she gritted her teeth in pain.

"I see a large tree ahead. Let's try to hide behind that for a bit so I can try to get a better look at your leg," he told her. He did not see anyone following them but that did not mean they were safe. He knelt down in front of her and lifted her pants leg up. He took out the flashlight he still had on him and tried to cover the light enough to see the wound but not enough to give away their position.

"It hit you in the calf." He still had his vest on and pulled out a clean handkerchief from it. He started wrapping it around the wound. "There, that should help a little for now. Do you think you can still run if I help?"

She swallowed back the throbbing pain. "Yeah, I can try."

"Good, let's go that way," he pointed to their left. She put her around his shoulders again. "You know I always loved your broad shoulders," she said with a grimace. She could see him smile a bit.

"I swam a lot as a kid, you know surfing and stuff," he mumbled as they looked before taking off again. He heard her snicker at that.

"Where are they?" she asked quietly after a few minutes of silence.

"I don't know and that bothers me. I think they are toying with us," Greg said to her. He had a real bad feeling they were running into a trap.

Out of the blue, gunfire rang out again. They tried to duck but Greg was still hit. He yelled out as he hit the ground. He put his hand to his side. "Fuck," he groaned, as he knew he was hit badly.

Sara, who was right by him, crawled over to see where he was hit. She saw him holding his left side. "Let me see," she asked in a panic. She could see he was in a lot of pain. He moved his hand to reveal blood pooling just below his rib cage on his left side. "Jesus, this is not good, Greg."

"Tell me about it," he said with teeth gritted in pain.

"We have to find help," she exclaimed in fear.

"You go on ahead and find help. Leave me here," he told her.

"Hell no! You think I'm going to leave you here so he can finish you off? You're wrong, Sanders," she exclaimed quietly.

He smirked at her calling him by his last name. "Well, Sidle, I can't very well let you lean on me anymore."

"I'm being serious here. I'm not leaving you to die. If were going down, we're going down together. Now get up and lean on me if you need to," she demanded of him.

"Fine," he groaned. She helped him up and cringed when he wobbled and cursed. They started walking slowly.

"So this is their game. They wound you and let you get away some and then find you again," she guessed as they trudged through the woods. She looked over at him because he had not responded. She could see sweat beading down his face and could hear his ragged breathing.

"Greg, you still with me?" She asked cautiously.

"Yeah," he said very softly.

She bit her lip in worry. Her leg throbbed but being shot in the leg was a lot less life threatening than being shot in the abdomen, where who knows what vital organs the bullet could have hit.

Greg had been walking as fast as he could manage with Sara hobbling alongside. He had been watching where he was stepping but finally looked up to see if they were heading anywhere or in circles. He caught a light in the distance. "Sara, ahead look! Please tell me I am not imagining things."

She looked up to where he was pointing. It looked like a light in what might be a camper window. "I see it." Suddenly shots rang out again but none hit them.

"Are we having fun yet?" The heckling voice yelled out to them.

"Come on, Sara. It might be our only chance," Greg said to her, getting a reason to keep moving.

They picked up their pace, getting closer to the light. "It's some kind of camper. Let's go, someone has to be in it," Sara said excitedly. This time she grabbed onto Greg's free hand as he was dropping behind her. "Come on, we're almost there," she told him.

They approached the camper and Sara went up to the door and knocked frantically. "Help! Help! We need help!" Greg stood behind her, feeling his energy drain.

The door started to open and Sara clutched Greg's hand in hope. It was quickly dashed when she saw the smirking face of the other hunter holding a gun at them. "Glad you could find your way to our home away from home. Why don't you come on in?"

Greg looked behind him only to see the one that had been chasing them coming out from the densely wooded area to where the camper was parked. He knew they had no chance now.

"Jones, I'm disappointed in you. Only one wound per person? I thought they would have had more by now," Denny said to his hunting partner.

"Yeah, well they were pretty good at avoiding but my first hit on the kid here was pretty good. He seems to be hurting badly," Jones said with a malicious grin.

Greg felt a chill run up his spine at their talk. He remembered that their previous victims had at least three gunshot wounds each. He clutched Sara's hand tighter. She could feel the same fear he did.

"Still, it seems a shame. I think we need to make it more even," Denny said as he suddenly raised his gun and shot at Sara.

"No!" Greg screamed as the bullet hit her and she hit the ground from the force. She had screamed out from the pain. Luckily he aimed for and hit her upper left shoulder.

Greg was going to bend down to help her but he felt a gun barrel in his back. He prayed he would not pull the trigger because he knew that would be the end of him. He looked down at her and in the light streaming out from the doorway he could see she was crying and petrified.

Denny stepped out of the camper and stood to face Greg. He tried not to show just how scared he felt by clenching his jaw.

"Not so tough now, are you boy?" Denny sneered.

The look the man gave him made him feel dirty some how. He saw out of the corner of his eyes the hunter known as 'Jones' pull Sara up to her feet. She had let out a slight yelp.

Denny looked her over while he still had the gun trained on Greg. "Nice shot, I must say. That's a good gusher but now we are uneven again." He turned his sinister glare at Greg again.

Greg was already feeling a bit lightheaded from his current blood loss. Another bullet would was bound to take him a step or two closer to death.

Denny started pointing his gun at other areas of his body. "Another one to the chest might kill ya sooner than we want. One to the arm might be nice or one to the leg," he paused.

"Stop it," Sara cried out, scare she was going to loose Greg. She could see him shaking.

"Sorry, darling, you've already had your turn. He's due for his now." And without warning he pointed his gun down and shot Greg's right foot.

He cried out and collapsed to the ground.

"Now that's more like it," Jones chuckled.

"Greg!" Sara gasped as she could see him writhing in pain.

"Okay enough fun for awhile," Denny said. "Jones, the van is behind the bushes over there. I burnt the evidence by their SUV. Lock them up for awhile in the van." He looked back at his prey.

"We'll check on you two in a couple hours and see if you're still alive. If so, we'll speed up the process by putting a few more holes in both of you."

Jones pulled up Greg from his crouched position on the ground and pushed them both limping towards some bushes.

Sara could see dawn starting to break and wondered if it would be the last one she and Greg ever saw.


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N-Sorry for the delayed update. Been busier than I expected to be lately. Anyway I need to thank my beta SlappyWhite for making sure nothing looks too bad. LOL _

* * *

Catherine frowned when she got no answer from either Sara or Greg's cell phones. She knew they should have been back by now. She found Nick in the office he shared with Greg and Sara, the latter being temporary.

"Nick, have you heard from Sara or Greg yet?" She asked him.

"No, I haven't. See if Archie can find out where they are by the Tahoe's GPS system," he suggested.

"Yeah, I thought of that and he is checking it now. I just thought I would ask. It is very unusual for us not be able to reach them. I have a bad feeling," she told him.

"I'm sure they're fine, Catherine. Maybe they are out of range and the Tahoe broke down," he said, trying to comfort her.

Archie came up to the door. "Hey, I tracked down the Tahoe by GPS. They are still up in Mt. Charleston off hwy 157. It is not moving. It's in an unpopulated area up there."

"Hmm, I don't like it," Catherine said. "It's not like them. We should send someone to check it out." Her phone rang. "Willows," she answered and then listened to the call. Her face tensed up more. "Okay, can we send a chopper up that way to check it out?" She was listening. "Okay can one of my guys go with?" Nick and Archie overheard her ask.

"Thanks. I'll send him over." She ended the call and turned to Nick. "They found the Tahoe crashed into a tree right near where Archie said he detected it in Mt. Charleston via the GPS. It was abandoned. Some local guy going to work called it in. He gave the license plate and it was theirs. Nick, go over to central. You're going with the chopper pilot to check it out."

"You really think something is up?" He asked her.

She bit her lip. "They heard gunfire in the woods."

"Could have been hunters?' Nick suggested.

"Possibly but I need to know," she told him.

"I'll go. Don't worry. I'll call you when we get there," he assured her by laying his hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks," she said to him and then watched him go.

The LVPD chopper landed in an open space near where the Tahoe had crashed. Nick went over to the scene with an officer to look at the SUV. The sun was just peeking over the horizon now, making it easier to see things.

Nick looked over the damage to the SUV. It was pretty much done for. He was glad to see no blood on the air bags or inside the front of the car. He walked around back and saw it opened. It looked like it had been trashed and any possible evidence was gone. That made him wonder if they took it with them or someone else got to it. He did not think they would leave their evidence behind but why leave the SUV then? Plus the back of the SUV looked like it had been tossed around. It made him think it was not them who touched it.

"Hey Stokes, I found a shell casing over here," the uniformed officer yelled over to him.

Nick came over and recognized it as a semi-automatic shell casing. "Weird, hunters don't usually used a semi-automatic rifle." He looked closer at the ground. By the way the grass was flattened in some areas, it looked like someone had been running. He stood up from his crouched position and started trying to follow the footsteps.

He was walking for a while when he saw what looked to be a partially dried small blood pool. He took out a swab to test it. It was blood. He closed up the swab lid and stood up.

"Jerry, take this back to the chopper pilot and have him turn it into the lab. I'm going to call in for extra help. I do not think this is animal blood. I'm going to see if I can find a blood trail and follow it further," Nick told the officer.

The officer nodded his head and left him. Nick had a very bad feeling now at seeing the amount of blood and only human shoe impressions on the ground. He found it hard to follow the blood trail in the denseness of the ground. He made a call. He had a weak signal but he got a hold of Catherine.

"Catherine, I think you might be right about something weird going on." He told her about the Tahoe and then the blood.

"I sent it back with the pilot to bring it in and see what kind of blood or whose it might be. It's too hard by eye to track the blood trail though," he told her.

"You think it might be from one of them?" She asked in fear.

"It doesn't look good, Cath," he admitted.

"Okay. We'll come up and get a search party, maybe some scent dogs to help find that blood trail."

"If it's one of theirs blood, I just hope we aren't too late," Nick said with deep concern.

"I know," she replied, hoping the same thing.

"There, now you two won't be going anywhere and if you're lucky, by then you both will be dead so we won't have to shoot you again," Denny said as he pushed Sara in all the way into the back of the van. They had their hands tied in front of them and their feet tied.

"Sleep tight," Jones laughed before he slammed the doors closed and locked it.

They were pretty much in the dark as the doors closed. It was a work van that had no windows in it. Only a tiny stream of light came through the doorframe. Sara turned on her good shoulder to look at Greg. He had nearly passed out when they were tying him up. Now he had his eyes closed and his breathing was shallow. It seemed he was in great pain with each breath.

"Greg, are you still with me? You can't leave me alone." Her voice shook from fear and pain.

He cracked open one eye. "Sara, this is no time to be flirting with me," he said weakly, a slight smirk on his face.

"Greg, come on, be serious," she said.

"So you're not flirting with me then?" he pouted some. She sighed exasperated.

"You never change, do you?" she said more as a fact.

"Well I have these new bullet holes in me, that is a change."

She frowned and turned on her back. He knew he probably shouldn't be joking at a time like this but it was the only thing to keep him from keeping a level head and breaking down. "Sorry," he said meekly. She turned on her side again. She looked at the huge bloodstain on his shirt. He was trying to put pressure on the wound with his hands, but being tied up was making it difficult. She was trying to put pressure on her own shoulder wound.

"I'm sorry I got us into this mess," she said to him.

He looked at her incredulously. "How are you responsible for this?"

"I should have stayed away. Bad things happen when I am around," she sighed.

"That's nonsense. Besides you were not around when we lost Warrick. You came after that, remember," he told her.

She looked away from him. "I guess you are right. Still, I should have learned my lesson on why I left, a reason like this," she said.

"I think as a whole, our department is incident prone," he said sadly. He grimaced as he took in a deep breath and then cursed.

Sara wished she could do more for him. She didn't want to lose him. He was too important to her. Perhaps more than she realized. She was broken out of her thoughts by his voice. "If Grissom hadn't been around, do you think there would have been a chance for us?" he asked quietly.

Her eyes went wide in surprise at his question. "This is not the time to discuss that," she said to dismiss the question, not wanting him to know her true feelings.

"I need to know. We may not have a tomorrow." He was now realizing the reality of their situation. He was already struggling to remain awake.

"Greg, don't say that," she pleaded as tears formed in her eyes.

"Sara, please I need to know if I would have ever had a chance with you," he asked her, his voice cracking with emotion.

She gazed into his big brown, pained eyes and felt overwhelmed with various emotions. On one hand she was scared for him and his condition. On the other hand, she knew sharing her true feelings for him could complicate things. She knew he was right, though. He deserved to know one of the reasons she came back to Vegas.

"I care about you a lot and well…it hurt when you treated me so coldly when I returned. It hurt because you're part of the reason I came back. Gil and I have been having major problems. After all is said and done, married life to him is not as rosy as I made it sound."

"I've always been close to Nick, he's like a brother to me. And honestly in the beginning that is how I felt about you. But when you became a CSI, you changed. I saw you more than just a co-worker and friend, but that is when Gil finally made his move and I pushed those new feelings aside for you, since you seemed to have cooled down on your interest in me," she tried explaining.

"Sara, I never stopped caring about you. I just saw how you were with Griss and figured it was a lost cause. I still…" he started coughing suddenly.

Sara got extremely worried because she could see the pain he was in.

When he coughed he felt like he was ripping open the wound more. Tears sprung to his eyes from the pain he was in. He managed to stop coughing but found it even harder to breathe now. "Sara," he gasped.

Sara knew they had to get out of there now and get help. She didn't care about how much pain she was in. She started kicking at the doors of the van. It would not give.

"Sara, stop. It's no use," she heard Greg say softly. She stopped and turned her attention back to him. His eyes were scrunched shut as sweat beaded all over his face.

"You never really answered my question," he said weakly.

She smiled as the tears freely flowed from her eyes now. "You're impossible." He remained silent except for his ragged breathing. He opened his eyes and looked pleadingly at her. She could see the despair as though he knew he did not have much time.

"You're not going to die, Greg. I won't let you now that I am back," she told him. She couldn't lose him now. She saw him about to speak and shook her head. "No, say nothing." She leaned in and placed her lips on his, surprising him. She deepened the kiss briefly before pulling away. She stared into his shocked eyes. He did not look like he was breathing suddenly. "Greg!"

He couldn't believe she just kissed him. He thought he was dreaming for a moment if it was not for the pain he was in. He was lost ever so briefly in his fantasy when he heard his name. "Was that a kiss before I die or was it more?"

She got mad. "Stop talking about dying! You're not going to die!"

"So it meant more?" he asked feebly. He wanted to stay alert but was finding it harder every minute.

"My feelings are very strong for you, Greg. I came back because I needed to explore my feelings for you."

"So…how was the exploration?" he tried to smile but failed due to pain.

"It went really well," she smiled at him tenderly.

"Good, because I love you," he said before closing his eyes. He felt so cold suddenly.

She was shocked for a moment by his declaration of love but then saw him shiver. It was cool outside still and in the van it felt even colder. She did her best to move closer to him without hurting him or herself. She wished she could wrap her arms around him and hold him but her bound hands prevented that.

"You're going to be okay. We both are. You'll see." She just listened to his shallow breathing and his heartbeat as she laid her head against his upper chest. She said a silent prayer that they would be found before it was too late.

* * *

Please review if you like or even if you don't. :)


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N-Sorry been very busy at work but things are slowing down so I will hopefully be able to publish more chapters sooner. Thanks again to my beta Slappywhite. :) Now onto the stor_y.

* * *

"Nick, any luck in following that blood trail?" Catherine asked as she found Nick examining the Tahoe further.

"No. Are they coming with scent dogs?" he asked.

"Yes, they should be here soon, but we still don't even know if it's animal or human blood." She said to him. She looked at the back of the Tahoe with him. "It doesn't look like the way they would leave it."

Nick's cell rang. "Stokes…yeah, who's is it, Wendy?…Shit. Okay thanks." He hung up and looked grimly at Catherine. "Wendy got a match on the blood. It's Sara's."

Catherine's eyes widened in alarm. "We have to find them." He nodded in agreement.

The K-9 unit came a couple minutes later and Nick led them to where he found the blood. The dog took off once it caught the scent. Nick, Catherine, and Captain Brass all took off running with some uniforms after the dog.

The dog stopped a moment further up, sniffing at something. The CSI's and officers ran up and looked closer. "There are two distinct blood pools here, had to be from two different people," Nick said upon closer inspection.

"Or two different wounds on one person," Brass said as he looked down with them.

Catherine looked worriedly at Nick. "Their case involved two people who were shot multiple times. They supposedly bled to death."

"Well, Sara was obviously bleeding, since the sample came back as her's. We have to find them soon. They've been out here several hours now," Nick said nervously.

"I'll call to have the medical chopper on stand by for when we need them," Brass told them.

"The dog still has the trail," the K-9 officer told them.

"Okay, let's keep going until we find them," Catherine said as they all followed the dog.

They seemed to get deeper into the woods until they ended up seeing something up ahead. They could see the dog running towards what looked like a camper. "Hold the dog back. Look what we have ahead," Brass said to everyone.

They all drew out their guns and slowly approached the camper. Brass nodded to the others as they stepped back. He knocked on the camper's door. He could hear rustling inside. He pointed to his officers to be ready.

"Who's out there?" A voice yelled out.

"Las Vegas Police Department, open up. We need to ask you some questions," Brass yelled out.

Nick looked down where he was standing and saw more blood. "This is probably our guy," Nick whispered to Brass and pointed down to the blood right near the door.

"Be ready," Brass warned everyone quietly. The door opened suddenly and a man with a camouflage cap holding a semi-automatic rifle came out. He was about to fire at them when Brass shot first, hitting him in the shoulder, causing him to drop the rifle. He cried out in pain.

"That's what happened when you try to shoot at cops," Brass told him.

Nick was staring at the camper and saw movement in a curtained window. "Someone else is in there," he whispered.

Brass nodded and motioned for one of his officers to go in. "We know someone else is inside. Come out with your hands up. We have you surrounded."

Inside Denny held his gun in both hands. If he was going to go down, he was going to go down fighting. He came running to the entranceway, firing. He managed to hit one officer before getting hit himself multiple times.

"Denny!" the other man yelled out as he was having handcuffs placed on him.

Brass went over and felt for a pulse on the man known as Denny. He was dead. The officer that he had shot had his bulletproof vest on and was not injured.

Another officer came out of the camper and announced that no one else was inside. Nick went over to the man in cuffs and stood over him as he was kneeling on the ground. "Where are our friends?" He demanded.

"Hopefully dead by now," Jones spat at him.

Nick got in his face. "If they're dead, you'll never see the light of day again because you'll be behind bars in maximum security prison for life."

Jones just sneered and kept his mouth shut.

"I think the dog has their scent again," the K-9 officer announced.

"Let's go, Nick," Catherine said as she followed after the K-9 officer and his dog. Nick ran with them. The dog stopped in front of a bunch of bushes, barking. Nick could see the roof of a vehicle over the top.

"There's a vehicle behind here." They ran around the bunch of bushes to see a black van with no windows but in the front. They looked in the cab and saw no one. Catherine looked at the back door area and saw blood. "Nick, come over here." She pointed out the dried blood to him.

Nick tried to open the back doors only to find out they were locked. "Sara? Greg? Are you in there?"

He turned to Brass after getting no answer. "One of them has to have a key for this."

Brass went over to the wounded Jones. "Where is the key for the van?" Jones just snickered at them. Brass smirked back and nodded to his officer. Jones struggled as the officer started digging in his pockets. The officer produced a set of keys from his right front jeans pocket. The man grumbled in response.

"Here Nick, try these." He tossed the keys to him. Nick started trying the keys. The first three out of six were a bust. He was getting very frustrated and cursed. It was the fourth key that unlocked it.

He looked at Catherine briefly before opening it. She looked at him in fear as he opened the doors. The sight and smell as they opened the doors made them panic. The smell was a mix of sweat and that metallic blood smell. The sight petrified them. Their friends' bodies lay closely next to each other. Blood had pooled at the doorway.

Catherine gasped as she saw Greg's bloody foot first and then could see his shirt covered in blood. Nick saw Sara's leg wrapped up but could also see that her blouse was bloody.

"Sara! Greg! Can you hear us?" Nick yelled. Nick tried climbing into the back of the van to get a better look at them. He felt Sara's pulse first. She was still breathing and had a steady pulse. Next he felt for Greg's and had trouble finding it at first and panicked. Then he finally found it, although it was weak.

"We need to get them help now."

"The medical chopper is already on the way," Brass told them.

With the others assistance, they managed to pull Sara out first since she was lying partially on top of Greg. They heard her moan as they laid her on the ground outside.

"Take it easy, Sara. You're safe now, we got you," Nick said to her.

"Greg," she mumbled.

"We're going to get him now," Catherine said as she took over for Nick, who was going to help get Greg out.

"Jesus," Nick gasped when he could see the amount of blood that Greg had obviously lost. His face was as pale as a ghost. "Where's that damn chopper?" He yelled out as he helped lay him on the ground. He noticed his breathing was poor too.

"Come on, Greggo, hold on. Help is coming," Nick pleaded. He kept pressure on his stomach wound.

The paramedics arrived shortly and took Greg first. They stabilized Sara while waiting for more help to come.

"Where's my help? I'm shot here too," Jones yelled.

Brass turned sharply and glared at him. "You'll be lucky if we don't leave you here for the bears to find and eat you up," he smirked.

Jones scowled and struggled against his restraints.

Catherine ended up going with Greg to the hospital while Nick went with Sara, who had lost consciousness again.

"How's she doing?" He asked the paramedics.

"She's lost a lot of blood but I think she should be okay. It does not look like the bullets hit any major organs," the one paramedic told him.

He looked down at her. "That's good to hear." He thought about how she initially left due to being a victim like she had been with Natalie Davis. Now here she was, back and it happened again. He dreaded telling Grissom the news.

Nick met Catherine at the hospital briefly to find out if anything was new with Greg's condition. She told him she did not know anything. He told her to keep him informed. He was heading back out to the scene with Ray to collect more evidence.

Catherine paced the waiting room nervously waiting on news for either of them. This was the first major incident under her supervision. Luckily or unluckily she had experience from prior events under Grissom to remember procedure on.

She could not believe Sara and Greg were involved in this. Both had been involved in prior incidents and now once again. She knew Sara had at first left due partially to what happened to her. She did not think Sara would ever be a CSI again after this incident.

She held off on calling Grissom as Sara requested. She did try to contact Greg's parents but had to leave a message. She tried to make it sound not too cryptic.

"Mrs. Willows?" A woman in scrubs came into the waiting room asking. Catherine turned around to face her. "Yes, I'm Catherine Willows."

"Good, I am Dr. Ellis. I was told you came in with Sara Sidle?"

"Yes, I did. I'm her boss. We work for the LVPD Crime Lab. Do you have news on her?"

"Yes, I do. She's coming out of surgery. She lost a bit of blood but she's been given transfusions. Her injuries are not too serious, no major arteries or organs hit. She does have some muscle damage that will need some physical therapy but overall she is very lucky," Dr. Ellis told her.

"That's good to hear. Do you know about Greg Sanders condition?" Catherine asked, knowing he was in worse condition.

"I'm sorry. As far as I know he is still in surgery. Dr. Velez is in OR 3 with him. I'm sure he'll update you as soon as he can. You'll be able to visit Ms. Sidle soon. Now, I must be going." Dr. Ellis left Catherine feeling only slightly relieved.

A half hour later she walked into Sara's room. She was pale against the cream colored sheets. She could see her shoulder bandaged up under the hospital gown. She sat down in the chair by the bed.

She sat for a few minutes before Sara's eyes began to flutter open.

"Sara, it's me, Catherine. You're in the hospital," she said as her eyes focused on her.

"Greg?" Sara whispered to her. She felt so drained and numb but she remembered what had happened.

"He's still in surgery. Do you want me to contact Gil now?" Catherine asked her.

Sara shook her head. "No, I'll tell him when I am better, don't want him worrying."

Catherine frowned, wondering why she would not want her husband to know but then again she wondered why she came back to Vegas alone, anyway. "Okay, I won't contact him but what if he finds out on his own?"

"I'll worry about that if the time comes," she replied softly.

Catherine smiled. "Still stubborn I see."

Sara gave a small grin. "Yep." Her face turned more serious. "Greg is going to make it, right?"

Catherine wanted to stay positive. "I'm sure he'll be fine. The doctor's are good here. Why don't you get some rest? I'll leave you alone for a while. When I come back I'll have news on Greg, I promise."

Sara nodded and closed her eyes as she was finding it hard to keep them open anymore.

Catherine went back out to the nurses' station to see if she missed any news on Greg's condition. They said he was still in surgery. She chewed on her lower lip in worry. She decided to check on their suspect and see how he was doing.

"What about a Stanton Jones? He was brought in with a police escort."

"Ah yes, he is in recovery room 5. I believe they are waiting to move him," the nurse told her.

"Thanks." Catherine went over and found Brass questioning the suspect. He saw her and stepped out a moment, leaving Stanton Jones with another officer.

"How are Sara and Greg?" He asked her. "No word on Greg yet but Sara is going to be okay. I already saw her briefly," she told him.

"Hmm," he mumbled. "Well this guy is now trying to pin all the blame on his dead partner, saying he was the one who shot them and put them in the van to die. Unfortunately he forgot he shot at us so that makes him guilty anyway," Brass smirked.

"Sounds like a charmer. I just hope he gets what he deserves," she said.

"Well once Sara or Greg identifies him, he is done for I say," Brass said.

"Yeah, that's true. Okay, well I'll be in the waiting room for Greg," she told him.

Catherine had just hung up with an update from Nick when a doctor in scrubs came looking for her. The doctor approached her with news.

"We just finished one surgery on him. The bullet wound to his abdomen caused some damage to his kidney and he had a collapsed lung. He lost a lot of blood and required several pints for transfusion. We stopped the bleeding from his foot but because of his current condition we're holding off on that surgery until later. He's having problems breathing on his own so he is on a respirator currently. He's still in critical condition at this point. We'll be watching him closely for the next 24 hours."

Catherine frowned, not liking the sound of his condition. "When can we see him?" She asked him.

"I'll have someone notify you when he is ready to have visitors, probably in about thirty minutes." He excused himself and left Catherine with her worries.

She sat waiting for word when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around, startled to see Nick's concerned face looking at her.

"Sorry, I said your name but you seemed not to hear me. Do you have any word on Greg yet?" He asked her.

She nodded her head. "Yes, I'm just waiting on them to tell me what room he is in. They said he is in critical condition and is on a respirator."

He shook his head woefully. "If he dies…we can't loose another member of our team…our family," he said, feeling emotionally distraught.

"I know, I know. I feel the same way. This is just so frustrating," she sighed.

A few minutes later they were told where Greg was and that he could have one visitor at a time, even though he was unconscious. Catherine went first since she had been waiting the longest.

She walked in and chewed on her bottom lip as she looked at the condition he was in. A tube went from the noisy respirator into his mouth, medical tape holding it down. Dark circles rimmed his closed eyes. Several more items were attached to him and going to machines. It was like the only things keeping him alive were the machines.

She took a moment to talk to him even though she knew he probably could not hear her. "Greg, I know we tend to treat you like our kid brother and don't give you the respect you truly deserve, but I wanted to let you know our team would not be the same without you. So you better stick around. I mean who else knows as much about old Vegas as you do? Who else gets so excited when they find a key piece of evidence? Anyway, you have to pull through this. I refuse to lose another member of our team, you hear me? So come back to us." She wiped away at tears that had suddenly come to her eyes. He was going to be fine. He had to be, she told herself.


	5. Chapter 5

A couple of days later, Greg had regained consciousness but he still was having trouble breathing on his own due to his weak condition. He was still on the respirator, so he couldn't talk to anyone. His head was too foggy from all the medication he was on anyway to remember anything that happened.

He had numerous visitors, including his parents who had come in finally.

Sara had wanted to see him but her doctor wouldn't let her leave her bed yet. She was worried about him.

She had finally called Grissom and informed him there was an incident, but she downplayed it. She didn't want him worrying and coming all the way from his lecture to find out she was fine. She had mentioned Greg but also said his injuries were minor instead of the truth.

What was truly on her mind was the feelings she was having for Greg, knowing he loved her. Since she knew the truth, she could not stop thinking about what life would be like with him.

He was so different from Grissom. He was open with his emotions and was outgoing compared. Gil's idea of fun was roach races. Greg's was actually more her style; concerts, clubbing, etc. She could picture herself with him doing those things and really enjoying herself and that is what scared her.

She had not realized life with Gil would be boring once they settled in. Now here she was thinking about her best friend outside of Gil, thinking about Greg, romantically. She shook her head, knowing it was wrong to be having these thoughts and feelings.

She sighed as she looked out the window. She really wished she could see Greg and talk to him, but she knew he wasn't even up to talking yet. She was just happy his recovery looked promising.

"Take as deep of a breath as you can," the doctor instructed Greg as he was about to take him off the respirator. Greg did the best he could at taking that deep breath. The tube being pulled out was one of the weirdest feelings he ever had. He started coughing and gasping once it was completely out.

"Easy, Greg, take slow breaths," his doctor instructed.

Nick stood to the side as this was going on. Another day had passed and Greg was doing a lot better that he no longer needed the breathing assistance. Nick happened to come by just as he was being taken off the respirator.

The doctor handed Greg a cup of water and a straw. "Take a few sips, it will help your throat. It will be sore for a while yet. If you need anything, just page for a nurse."

Greg nodded that he understood. His throat was raw and he didn't want to have to talk if he didn't have to.

The doctor left the room, letting Nick take a seat by the bed. "I bet it feels better not having that tube down your throat," he said to him.

"Yeah," Greg managed to say weakly. He was still on the morphine and felt a little out of it, but he was better than he had been and felt he owed his visitor a bit of time.

"Sara?" he asked, knowing Nick would understand.

"She'll probably be able to visit you later on today. She's doing fine, just worried sick about you like the most of us," he smiled.

"'K," he replied softly. He really did not remember anything anyone had said to him since he initially woke up. "Are they caught?" he asked and then sipped more water.

Nick smiled again. "Yes, well one is anyway. The other guy is dead." He went on to tell him the details. By the time he was done, he could tell Greg was falling asleep again.

"Well, I can see you need more rest. I'll let you sleep. I'm just glad to see you feeling better. I'll come by tomorrow. Take care."

Greg was already asleep by the time he left the room.

A nurse wheeled Sara into the room. She parked her next to his bed. He was still sleeping when they entered.

"I'll let you two alone for awhile," the nurse told her.

Sara waited until she was gone before she really took in his appearance. He was still pale but at least she knew he was out of the woods.

She smiled as she thought back to the Sherlock case, when he was officially made a CSI. He was so happy to pass his proficiency.

"What are you so happy about?"

She suddenly noticed those soft brown eyes looking at her. "You're awake. I was just remembering when we surprised you about passing your proficiency test. You came in all depressed, thinking you failed and then we popped out. I never saw you more relieved and happy."

"I was really relieved. I thought for sure I was doomed to be a lab rat forever. Although I'm still treated like one half the time," he frowned.

"I don't think of you like that. I can see the man you have become," she said to him, looking at him seriously.

He gazed at her a moment before speaking. "About what I told you, how I felt…"

"Don't Greg, don't say you didn't mean it because I know you did. I can see right now by the way you are looking at me that you were telling the truth. You are trying to save me because I am married now," she said to him.

"You're not just married. You're married to Grissom. I will not hurt him or you. I should have never said anything," he sighed.

She empathized. "You had to get if off your chest. But I want you to know your feelings matter too."

"Yeah, but this, whatever it is, cannot happen. I should have never said anything," he said to her.

"Greg, don't be that way. I admitted to you that I have strong feelings too. It's not something I can deny," she told him.

Greg shook his head. He was tired and not in the mood to deal with all this right now. "Look can we talk about this later? I need my rest."

She furrowed her brow but knew he still was not in good shape. "Did they say when they would be operating on your foot?" she decided to ask before she left.

They had held off on setting the bones and putting pins in his foot due to the damage the bullet caused. He looked down the bed at his foot. "In another day, they will do it. It's gonna suck," he groaned.

"Yeah, I heard. I'm sorry, Greg," she said to him.

"This is not your fault. This is those two crazies fault." He yawned and she knew that was a sign to leave.

"I'll go page the nurse now to take me back to my room," she told him.

"I'll see you later on then, Sara. Let me know when they set you free," he told her.

"Will do. Take care, Greg."

Greg was glad when the nurse came to take her back to her room. He really thought it was over for them when he told her. He didn't expect to be rescued. He knew he never had a chance with her. She was married now.

It was a week later and Greg was finally able to go home from the hospital. His foot surgery had gone well, but his doctor told him to stay off his foot as much as possible.

Nick insisted on giving him a ride home. He noticed he had been quiet. "You feeling okay, G?" Greg looked over at him. "Yeah, just tired still. My chest still hurts too. I just want to be in my own bed again," he told him.

"Yeah, I bet." Nick knew that Sara had been avoiding Greg since she saw him a few days before. He had wondered what that was about and Sara would not tell him. He decided to ask Greg about it. "So, um, what's going on between you and Sara? I would have thought after what you two went through together, you would have been sticking together like glue."

Greg stared out the window, wishing he had not brought up the subject. "Nothing is going on."

Nick frowned at his vagueness. "That's why I'm asking because after what you two went through, I would think you would be talking about it to each other."

Greg sighed. "It's complicated, let's just say. It will be better when she heads back to Grissom."

"Hmm," Nick responded. Now he was suspicious of what was going on between them.

Greg glanced at Nick and could see his wheels turning in his head. "Look, it's just that some things were said that we regret now. I told her to let it go but she won't. That's all you need to know right now."

Nick was surprised at his curt tone. "Okay I'll let it be. I just hope you two can work out whatever it is. I hate to say it but we've all noticed the tension."

This time Greg rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache. "I know. We'll have to talk now that I am out of the hospital. Can you just drop this for now though?"

Nick saw that he was upsetting him and he felt bad about it now. He was just getting out of the hospital after a two-week stay. "I'm sorry, G. I'll let it go. I just hate to see friends not talking to each other. I care about the both of you."

"I know and I appreciate the concern but I'm just too tired to deal with it all now," he admitted.

"Well, we're at your complex, so you can get some rest," Nick said to him.

He helped Greg out of the car. He had to walk on crutches since his foot was in a cast and he was not supposed to put pressure on it. Greg went over to his couch and sat down, putting his crutches to the side. "It feels good to be home," he sighed happily.

"Yeah, I know. Hospitals suck," Nick said as he placed a small bag of Greg's medication on his kitchen counter. He looked over at him. "So do you need groceries or anything I can help with?"

Greg shook his head. "Nah, I have some stuff still here and for dinner I'll just get take out. I'm good."

"Oh yes, I forgot you are the king of take out," he smirked.

"Not cool making fun of the injured man here," he pouted.

Nick chuckled. "Well, I need to go home and get ready for work. Call if you need anything."

"Thanks man. I'll be fine though. Just going to be sleeping most of the time, anyway."

"Okay. I'll swing by tomorrow to check up on ya."

Greg waited until Nick left to get up and take a couple of his painkillers. He didn't want him knowing how much pain he was still in. His foot killed him and he was still very sore from his other wound.

After he took down his pills, he decided to take a nap.

He woke up a few hours later to a knock at his door. He groaned as he reached for his crutches and got up to answer the door. He looked through the peephole and saw Sara. He sighed before he opened the door. He knew she was there to talk about their so-called relationship.

"Hey Sara," he said as he opened the door. She wore jeans and a black jacket with a blue blouse. She smiled at him. His hair was sticking up a bit, reminding her of his younger days in the lab.

"Hi Greg! I, uh, got some groceries for you. I figured you probably had no food in the house."

He looked down and saw two bags full of stuff. "Oh you didn't have to do that. I'm not helpless you know," he frowned.

"I know. I just thought I owed you one," she said as she picked up the bags by the handles and limped inside.

He scowled at her. "Sara, you really should not be on your feet too much either. Your leg is not completely healed. Neither is your shoulder."

"I'm not helpless you know," she smirked.

"Touché," he said and couldn't help but grin. He helped her put the food items away. "Glad to know you bought me easy stuff to make. I'm not going to want to spend time cooking," he said as he put away some TV dinners.

"I know you would want quick meals. So how are you feeling today? Did I wake you up?" She asked sheepishly.

"Yes, as a matter of fact you did. I feel okay. The painkillers help," he shrugged as he went to sit back down. He lifted his injured foot onto a pillow on his coffee table.

She finished putting the stuff away and then tentatively hobbled into the living room. "Can we talk?" she asked hopefully.

He sighed. "Now the real reason you are here comes out. Yes, take a seat."

"Thanks," she said as she sat down by him. She could feel the tension radiating off him. She knew he was mad he ever expressed his feelings to her but she was glad to know the truth. She had figured all along he had strong feelings for her. She wondered what would've happened if she never ran off and Grissom hadn't come after her.

She noticed he was staring straight ahead. He was ticked off. "Greg, I'm sorry I started this whole thing, but I need to know that if I was not with Gil, would we have had a chance together?"

He finally looked at her again. "Why are you asking me? You're the only one who can answer that."

He was right and she knew it. "Okay. You got a point." She sighed heavily and gazed into his eyes. "I'm not going to lose your friendship over this mess, am I?"

His face softened up some. "No, we will always be friends." He sighed and rubbed his face. "How did things become so complicated?"

She laid her head on his shoulder. "I don't know."

He laid his hand on hers. "Can I ask you something?"

She looked up into his eyes. "Sure."

"What does he have that I don't?" He asked seriously.

The question reminded her of the days with Hank. Back then Greg was joking about but now she knew better when he asked the question. She looked down at their intertwined hands. "He was a challenge. An older, mysterious man. I always knew he was hiding a tender, romantic side underneath that serious exterior."

"So I'm not mysterious or a challenge apparently," he pouted.

She smirked. "Oh you are a challenge but of a different type. Mysterious, well not so much."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "You hurt me." Then his lips curved into a smirk. "So you prefer older men, huh? Don't want to be considered a cougar?"

She glared at him. "There's only six years difference between us, hardly cougar age."

He smiled a moment before turning serious again. "So what are you doing here?"

She sighed. "I'm not sure anymore." She looked down at her shoes. He did not want to deal with this, with her not being able to answer him or make a decision. He started getting up and groaned as he did.

"Are you in pain?" She asked out of concern.

He rolled his eyes at her before going to the kitchen. "What do you think? I was shot a few times. Of course I am in pain." He grabbed his pill bottle and popped a couple pills into his hand.

"What's that?" She asked.

"My painkillers, what do you think?" He snapped back. He grabbed a bottle of water and took his pills down.

Sara was shocked at how he reacted. "You know, maybe I'll come back another day when you are in a better mood." She stood up and grabbed her crutches and went towards the door.

He knew he should've stopped her but he did not like her messing with his heart. He had let go of her ages ago and now she was bringing back all of the old feelings. "Get back to me when you figure out who you want," he yelled after her.

She shot him an evil glance. "What happened to the sweet guy I knew? Maybe you are complicated. I'll call you next time before I bother you." She headed to the door and let herself out.

"Bye," he said and slammed his bottle of water down on the counter. He was frustrated by her sudden exploration of feelings with him. All the years he chased after her and got turned down. _She's a married woman and now she thinks she has feeling for me_, he thought. He just wanted to scream. He didn't want to think about it anymore. He decided to go back to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N-Sorry I am not updating as often as I said I would, but I think I am closer to finishing this now. But hardly any reviews, so I guess not many readers anyway. Thanks as always to my beta SlappyWhite. :)_

* * *

A week later Sara had not called Greg once. After she had left him, she had realized she needed to figure out what she wanted.

She talked with Gil and he was indifferent with her. Over the last few weeks he had changed. He would hardly talk to her. He had become cold and distant. She didn't understand what was happening between them. Perhaps he regretted marrying her now.

Her larger problem was Greg though. The more Gil closed her off the more her feelings towards the younger man grew. She found herself thinking about him all the time.

She had started back at work a couple days ago on desk duty. Greg was scheduled to come back in another week. She was ready to talk to him again. She decided to call him first.

Greg saw his caller ID and frowned. "Hey Sara," he said as he answered the phone. He knew she was bound to call him sooner or later. He dreaded going through the motions again.

"How are you feeling?" she asked him.

"Peachy, you?" He replied sarcastically. He sat on his sofa drinking a beer.

"What's going on? You still sound grumpy," she said to him.

"Just bored, I guess."

"So, can I come over so we can talk?" She asked cautiously.

He thought for a moment. He knew he couldn't put it off forever. "Sure, I could use the company."

Sara was delighted. "Great! I'll be over in an hour."

Like clockwork, she was knocking on his door about an hour later. He limped his way over to the door and opened it. She smiled brightly at him. "Hey there!" She gave him a hug. He smiled and mumbled, "Hmmm, that Sidle scent."

She heard him and pulled back. "I haven't heard that phrase in awhile."

He smiled goofily at her. "Yeah, well…come on in."

She walked in and made herself comfortable on his couch. She watched as he came over to sit down by her. He was a little scruffy, something she had never really seen him like. She thought he looked a bit older with it.

"You know, you're lazy days are over soon," she said to him.

He rubbed his chin. "What? You don't like the stubble?"

"It makes you look older," she told him.

"More like Grissom?" He asked with brows raised.

She smirked. "No, not quite. You're still much younger." She had noticed a couple empty beer bottles on his coffee table. "Are you still taking your pain medication?"

"Yeah, why?"

"And you've been drinking too?" She asked with surprise.

He shrugged. "Just a couple of beers, nothing major. All I'm doing is sitting around here all day."

"Yeah, but aren't you taking Hydrocodone? That mixed with alcohol can be bad," she told him.

He waved his hand at her. "Seriously, Sara, you are talking to a chemist here, I know this stuff."

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Just watch yourself, okay?"  
He sighed. "Fine. So have you made any decisions on your future yet?"

She pursed her lips in discontent. "Nothing like getting to the point right away." He made a crooked smile.

"Gil hardly talks to me these days when I call him. I'm really thinking us getting married was a mistake," she sighed.

"Maybe you should go home to him and be with him there instead of here in Vegas," he suggested.

"I asked him if he wanted me to come home. He said not to bother right now because he was going to another conference. I think he consumes his life, now, with those. I don't know what to think anymore, Greg." She laid her head on his shoulder.

He felt bad for her. He put his arm around her. "Do you regret marrying him now?"

"Yes and no. I mean I love him but I'm not sure I can live with him. I thought I could. I thought it would be happily ever after but now I can see it will not be that way."

Greg nodded slightly before looking into her eyes. "Where do I fit in, then?"

She looked into those big brown eyes of his. She could see the emotions swirling in them. "I don't want to hurt you, Greg. I care…I care about you a lot. I don't want to damage our friendship, but I need to know if I were to leave Grissom would we have a chance?"

He rolled his head back against the back of the couch and looked up at the ceiling as if searching for the answer. "I don't want to get hurt either. You know why you've never seen me in a real relationship?" She shook her head.

He continued. "It's because before I moved to Vegas I had been in a serious relationship for almost 2 years. Serious as in I was ready to propose to her when she told me she was in love with someone else. She apologized and said she didn't know how it happened. I was devastated. That's why I don't want to do anything unless I am sure you are ready to move on."

She blew out a breath. "I'm sorry. I had no idea. It makes sense though, how you are. I don't want to do that to you. If you don't want to pursue anything I'll understand."

He gave her a small smile and pushed her hair back behind her ear. "The thing is this time I am aware of the situation, but is Grissom aware? I don't want to be the 'other guy' here. I don't want to hurt him. He's done a lot for me and my career."

She hung her head shamefully. "No, I can't blame you for not wanting to hurt him. And he does not know my true feelings. I'm afraid to tell him," she admitted.

"Yeah well you need to be truthful. I'm curious to know what could be between us but not until we know for sure your marriage is over. And frankly, I don't think it is over," he told her.

She pushed away from him and stood up. "I know what you're saying but I think you are wrong," she said as she looked out his patio door.

"You think so? You mean to tell me you don't love him anymore?"

"No, I still love him," she sighed.

"Well then we have nothing to discuss on the matter. If you still love him you have your answer. We'll just remain friends, that's what is best," he said to her.

He heard her sigh heavily. She turned around and looked at him. "I hate this," she said with frustration.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I know but this way no one really gets hurt."

She gazed at him. "But you're hurt."

"Not really. I mean I've given up on you once before, I can again." He gave her a small smile but she could see he forced it.

"I should go. I guess I'll see you at work in a few days then." She started to walk out.

"Don't be a stranger. I'm still here if you need to talk," he offered.

She turned and smiled at him. "Thanks, Greg. I promise you I will figure this out."

"Just don't take too long," he replied.

"I won't. I promise."

Greg was back to work, helping out in the lab while he still had his foot in a cast. He was working on some DNA samples when he heard someone come up behind him.

"Hey Greg. I wanted to talk to you for a moment." Sara stood nervously by.

"Sure, what's up?" he asked as he spun around in his chair to look at her.

She thought back to the days when he was the only DNA tech there and it was like déjà vu. She smiled a bit at the thought before remembering what she came to tell him. "I wanted to let you know that I'm going away for a few days. Depending on what happens I might not be coming back."

"That sounds ominous," he said with brows raised.

"Well, it depends on Gil. I'm going to see him and talk about where we are at in person. I'm sick of living like this. I need to know," she told him, clearly frustrated with the situation.

"I understand. I think this is the best move for you. You'll let me know how it works out, right?" he asked her.

"Of course I will. You're the whole reason I am doing this. You deserve not to be kept in the dark any longer and move on," she told him.

"You deserve to know too, don't fool yourself. This is more for you than me. I told you I can deal," he said with a comforting smile.

"You're right, as always. When did you become so wise?" she grinned.

He smirked. "I've always been a wise guy!"

She suppressed a laugh. "Yes you have been. I'll miss you as always but promise to stay in touch this time around."

"You better too."

"I will. Well, I got to run to Trace now and pester Hodges for my results. I'll call you when I get to NYC safely. That's where he's at right now, teaching a seminar. So take care, don't get shot."

"Haa, haa, funny. Be safe yourself." He got up and gave her a hug. She gratefully accepted it. "Bye!"

He watched as she left his lab. He stared after her a moment, praying he would not see her again. He just wanted her to be happy and he figured life away from Vegas was her best bet.

A week later Greg was at home on his day off, sitting back on his sofa with his laptop open. He was looking at an email Sara has sent him a couple of days ago. She was vague in it, simply saying she and Grissom still had a lot to talk about. The feeling he got from it was that things were not going well.

He has written her back but she never responded. Now he wondered if they had made up and she was just too busy to write him again.

A few minutes went by before there was a knock on his door. He got up and went to see who it was. When he looked through the peephole he was surprised at who he saw. He opened the door and saw the familiar brunette's sad eyes meet his.

"Sara," he said softly. "Can I come in?" she asked him. She looked like she had been crying recently.

"Yeah sure, come on in," he said to her, surprised to see her there.

She walked past him and stopped in his living room. She turned to look at him. She looked as though she was about to burst out sobbing.

"It's over. It's really over between Gil and I." And then the tears started flowing freely.

Greg walked over to her and held her as she sobbed on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Sara. I really am," he said sincerely.

"He said he made a mistake when he asked me to marry him. He said he thought he was the marrying kind but since discovered he is not. He said he was going to file for divorce. He doesn't want to be tied to me if I'm going to be so needy, he told me," she sobbed.

Greg didn't think Grissom was like that. "Maybe he's just going through something right now, like a late mid-life crisis."

She shook her head. "No, I said the same thing. He said he was sorry but it was not working out. He told me, seeing as I already seemed to spend so much time away, to move on without him."

Greg sighed. "And you come straight to me." She looked into his eyes. "You said you'd be here for me."

He nodded. "And I am but I also said I don't intend on being the rebound guy."

She suddenly got angry and pushed away from him. "You know what, I don't need this from you too right now. Forget I ever came here." She started heading towards the door.

He rolled his eyes before going after her. "Hang on there a moment. Don't go anywhere. Stop being so stubborn." He took her arm and pulled her into a hug. She tried to pull away at first but then gave in and started sobbing on his shoulder again. He just held her and let her get it out of her system. He guided her over to the sofa where they could sit down and talk.

She sighed heavily and looked at him with red, puffy eyes. "I'm sorry to dump on you, but you're the only one I've trusted with all of this. I just can't believe it is over."

Greg frowned. "You're sure it's really over? I just can't see Grissom being like that."

She flopped down on his sofa and rubbed her eyes. "It sounded clearly that way to me."

He sat next to her. "Well, you know he's always been an odd guy. It wouldn't surprise me for him to change his mind."

She glared at him. "What? Are you defending that creep now?"

His eyes widened. "No, no. I just guess I can't see him being that way suddenly." She was upset and restless. She stood up again and started pacing. "Well, I didn't see it coming either." She spun around and looked at him suddenly. "Do you have anything to drink?"

He smirked. "You're welcome to whatever's in the fridge or cabinets. You know what I mean." While she searched for something to drink, he shut down his laptop and turned on some music low in the background.

She came over carrying a couple glasses and a bottle of wine. She handed him a glass and poured some red wine in both of their glasses. Then she proceeded to swig down her first glass fast and refill it right away. "God, I needed this," she said before taking another swig.

He raised his eyebrows in amusement and took a sip out of his own glass. "So what are you going to do now?" He asked her. She laid her head on his shoulder. "I don't know. I guess I'll be staying here in Vegas. He seems to be set on staying in New York for a while. I just can't believe he doesn't want me anymore after all the years we spent chasing after each other," she said as she started crying again.

Greg wrapped his arm around her, feeling bad for her. "I'm so sorry, Sara, I really am," he said softly.

"Thanks," she said and then grabbed her glass of wine and polished off that glass and refilled again.

"Don't you think you should slow down?" he asked her in worry. He remembered when she had told him about her near DUI charge she got when she was upset about not getting the key CSI nod by Grissom. He wouldn't let her get behind the wheel tonight. He knew how she got on wine.

"I just want to forget the day I ever said 'yes' to Gil Grissom." She sucked down yet another glass and started refilling her glass and then topping off his first glass.

"I think you need to really slow down on that stuff."

"Don't lecture me, Greg. I'm a big girl. Now drink with me and don't be such a party pooper," she sneered a bit in his direction.

He gave her a cautious eye before sipping some more of his wine. "So what do you want to talk about then?" he asked casually.

"How's work been? What about that Jones guy? Any news on when we have to do our deposition?" she asked quickly.

He shrugged as he stretched back on the sofa. "It's been steady. I worked an arson the last couple of days. Cameras caught some bored teenagers setting it. As for our depositions, still no word on when we have to do them," he told her as he took another sip of his wine.

She moved closer to him and placed her hand gently on his side near where he had been shot. "How have you been feeling?"

He grimaced. "Some days better than others. I saw my doctor yesterday and he's worried about my kidney since I still have some pain at times caused by it."

Her eyes opened wide in alarm. "Does he think you'll have to have dialysis?"

"Maybe. It's basically just wait and see what happens, if anything." He looked at his wine and put it down. "And I really shouldn't be drinking this with my medication."

Sara pouted. "So I have to get drunk all alone, oh well." She poured more wine in her glass, almost finishing off the bottle.

"Sara, I think you've had enough." He told her.

She glared at him. "You sound like 'him' now. Don't be like him. I need you to be you, Greg." He sighed. "I'm just concerned for you and that is being me. I'm not the crazy lab rat anymore. I've seen and been through too much to be that naïve anymore."

She glowered. "You're right. We've both grown up a lot, but you more than anybody." She placed her hand on his face and gazed reflectively into his eyes. "I remember first seeing you, barely recognizing you on that street with your face all bloody from the beating. I was so scared you were dead until Sophia told me you were going to be okay." She paused a moment and smiled. "You were such a trooper, only focusing on the possible evidence left behind with no concern of your own well-being." She dropped her hands and sighed, shaking her head.

"I was such a fool. I knew back then I had strong feelings for you but I was drawn into the chase that was Gil Grissom. You know, I think that was a big part of his allure. I had to really pursue him and I did it for so long I couldn't see what was right in front of me…who was right in front of me; you always being so patient and understanding. I'm so sorry, Greg." Tears started forming in her eyes again. "You deserve so much better."

He smiled sadly at her. "That's nice of you to say but after what he's put you through, you deserve someone who really cares about you."

She looked puzzled. "Don't you care about me anymore?" He shook his head. "I never said that. I still care very much, that's why I worry about you," he clarified.

She took his hands in hers. "You're so wonderful to me. I want you to be happy."

He smiled wearily, not sure where she was going with this in her somewhat intoxicated state. "I want you to be happy too."

"I can make you happy and me making you happy makes me happy," she cooed as her right hand let go of his hand and started sliding up his thigh. When she was dangerously close to his crotch, he spoke up. "Uh, huh, Sara, I don't think you should be doing this."

"Shhh," she whispered and then leaned forward and planted her lips on his. He felt his heart beat faster as she worked her tongue through his parted lips. All the feeling he had been trying to suppress for her came flooding back. Some voice deep inside was telling him to stop what was happening but feeling her lips on his and breathing in her sweet scent won over that little voice.

She broke the kiss briefly to look at him through half lidded eyes. She ran a finger over the moles on the right side of his face. "I've been so blind but not anymore. I want you, Greg."

The look in her eyes was almost predatory. He was about to tell her this was wrong when he suddenly found her hand behind his neck pulling him forward into another passionate kiss. The next sensation he felt was her other hand snaking under his shirt, where she found a nipple to toy with. He gasped into her mouth as he felt her pinch him hard.

She was enjoying his reactions and glad he was not telling her to stop. He finally managed to break the lock she had on him. Panting a little he said, "We need to stop this. It's too soon after…" he was cut off by her putting her finger over his lips. "Shut up and just feel," she purred. She slid both hands up his shirt and smirked when he she saw he was about to protest. "I told you to shut up already."

He wished he had the will power to stop her but it had been so long since he'd actually been with a woman, his body was reacting to every touch. He silently cursed himself as he put his hands around her back and started lifting her shirt off.

She followed suit by removing his shirt. She was realizing the difference between him and Grissom right away. Gil always took things slow with her, like she was delicate. Whenever she started a faster pace he would slow her down. Now she had set a fast pace and Greg was matching it. She felt a thrill when he unhooked her bra. She ran her hands over his smooth, nicely toned chest. She planted her lips on his again. Her hands found the waistband of his pants.

"Sara," he breathed heavily as he felt her touch his hardness under the cloth of his pants. "We shouldn't…" The more he tried to tell her it was wrong, the more she pushed him further. She straddled him more and pulled off her bra completely.

He stared at her, wondering if he was dreaming. He never though Sara Sidle would be half naked in front of him, throwing herself at him. She was beautiful.

"I want you, Greg, please. Don't you want me?" She asked him as she ground her hips against him.

"We're going to hell," he pronounced in giving up any control he had.

She smirked as her hands went to pull down the waistband of pants. "Well if we are, we might as well have fun going there."


	7. Chapter 7

She laid her head on his chest as his arms held her. She didn't think she would feel so happy again, but being with Greg was more than she imagined. She realized the difference now between being with an older man and one younger.

She looked at him staring up at the ceiling. "What's on your mind?"

He was still in disbelief. He felt amazing and yet incredibly guilty. The fact that she was still legally married bothered him the most. He was never the type to sleep with a married woman, least of all married to his former boss and mentor.

"I'm just praying this does not bite us in the butt," he told her.

"Yeah, we wouldn't want that cute butt of yours getting hurt," she giggles, still feeling a buzz from all the wine and sex.

He glared at her. "I'm being serious here. You are still officially married."

She sat up a little to look at him better. "I told you he's heading for divorce. Besides he never had to know this happened."

Greg scowled. He knew it happened and that guilt would stick with him. He would feel better once he knew the divorce was official.

She frowned seeing he was not feeling the same way she was. "Was I that bad?" He looked at her with surprise. "What?"

"Was having sex with me that bad?" She asked more serious now.

"No, no," he shook his head apologetically. "You were great. I mean, gosh, do you know how often I've dreamed about being with you? You're amazing, Sara. I don't mean too make you feel you're not. I just think we should have waited longer," he explained.

She leaned down closer to him again, to stare into his eyes. "I thought you had waited long enough."

A crooked smile formed on his face. "That I have but after so long I could've held out longer."

She traced a finger down the center of his chest. "I don't think you could have."

"Well not with you touching like you were like you are again." He felt his cock stir as her mouth clamped down on his left nipple.

"Ahh…you…you should really stop that…shit!" He groaned when she started grinding against him again.

Suddenly he felt a sharp pain in his side. "Ahh, stop, stop," he yelled as he shot up into a sitting position.

She sat back against the other side of the sofa, alarmed. "What's wrong?" She saw him clutch his side. "Oh God! Did I hurt you?"

"Doctor told me to limit my physical activity and here you are trying to kill me," he groaned.

"I'm sorry." She got up suddenly and shook her head. "I should go anyway."

He reached out and took her hand. "No, stay…for a little while anyway. Just no more coming onto me psychically, not that I don't appreciate it," he grinned.

She smiled softly at him. "No, I think I should go. Perhaps you were right in that we rushed things. We'll talk tomorrow though?" she asked, as she was not sure what he was really thinking.

He frowned a bit. "Sure, but are you sure you are okay to drive?"

"Yeah, I think the sex burned off the buzz. Besides I'm only ten minutes from you. Have a good night, Greg."

He went to walk her to the door but she was already letting herself out in a hurry. "Bye," he waved, knowing she wouldn't really see him anyway.

He went back and sat down after locking his door. All that just happened confused him. He had a feeling she was having regrets now about their sleeping together. He wished he had had more willpower to never do it in the first place.

Sara sat in her car outside his apartment as she was starting to realize what had really happened. Her supposed divorce papers had not even been filed yet and she already slept with Greg. It had not really hit her until she knew Greg was still in pain from his wound.

She realized the mistake he had been talking about now. It was too soon. She was still raw emotionally from what Grissom had done to her. Greg deserved better than to be used by her, which she had basically done. She had strong feeling for him but her feelings for Gil were still overwhelming those of Greg. She was being selfish and she knew it.

"After the divorce is final I can be with him," she told herself. She decided to keep her distance from him until it was final.

The next evening at work Sara was trying to avoid Greg, which he noticed right away. He had just come back from working a crime scene with Nick when he decided to look for her. He finally found her in the locker room. When she saw him, she tried to ignore him.

"What's going on with you all of the sudden?" He finally asked her.

She shrugged without looking at him. "Been busy today here, that's all." She closed her locker and started to push past him.

"Hey! Wait a moment." He grabbed her arm to get her to face him. He stared into her eyes with anger. She looked a bit scared.

"You're having regrets now, aren't you?"

"Greg, this isn't the right place to talk about this," she whispered.

"Well, we need to talk, if not now, after work. I told you I didn't want to get involved if it was going to be like this," he seethed.

"Please, not here Greg. We'll meet after work, I promise," she pleaded now, not wanting others to overhear them at work.

He calmed down some. "Fine, fine but we will talk." He let go of her arm and let her walk away.

When he was alone, he sat down on the bench and buried his head in his hands. He knew he was a fool for sleeping with her. "Damn you, Sara," he muttered under his breath.

"G, you okay?"

He looked up and saw Nick in the entranceway. He hoped he had not heard him. "Yeah, just tired. The painkillers fault."

Nick walked in closer. "You're hurting today? You looked okay at the scene."

"Yeah, well just sort of came on. I'll be fine though," he shrugged.

"Well, don't overdo it. You're still recovering from a pretty serious injury," Nick said to him, caring for his well-being.

He nodded his head. "I know, I'll be okay, really Nick." _It's just Sara,_ he thought.

"Okay, well Doc Robbins wants to see us, so let's get going."

Greg sighed before getting up to go with Nick. It was turning out to be a long night.

Sara had dreaded talking to Greg. She had texted him to meet at a pub off strip. She went to it on occasion. She wanted some place public to talk to him. She knew he wouldn't be happy with what she decided.

She saw him come through the door, walking with the limp he still had from his foot injury. She noticed he didn't smile when he saw her like he usually would. He pulled out a chair opposite her and sat down. He hadn't even said hello. She knew he was mad.

"Greg, I'm sorry about earlier today. I know I was acting cold towards you. It's just that…I've been thinking and you were right that we jumped into this too soon," she told him.

"No kidding," he mumbled. She confirmed his fears that he was having second thoughts about the night before.

She looked into his eyes and could see the anger in them. "Look, everything can resume when the divorce papers have been officially filed by both of us. What happened between us, it was great but we both know it was too soon."

He blew out a breath before speaking, trying to keep his cool. "You know, Sara, you're the one who started all of this by coming back here. You're the one who came to me the other night and started coming onto me. You promised me you were ready to move on."

Sara looked down at her hands. "I know. I know I started all of this but it is what I want. I want you now." She gazed at him with tears in her eyes. "I just want it to be done right and being with you before the divorce is final is not right."

Greg shook his head. "I'm starting to think none of this is right."

A waitress came up and asked if they wanted anything to drink. Sara declined but Greg ordered a shot of tequila.

After the waitress walked away, Sara looked accusingly at him. "So you're going to get drunk tonight?"

"Yeah, maybe. You wanted to forget that night now I want to forget all of this," he said, his eyes dark.

"I've already hurt you when I said I wouldn't. I just can't seem to get things right lately," she said as she looked away from him.

He sighed. "Next time you come to my place, show me the divorce papers and then maybe we can try again."

She gazed at him a moment. "So you don't want to see me until then?"

"We'll see each other at work but outside of work, like you said, we need to keep our distance. No need complicating things more than they already are," he explained.

The waitress came back with Greg's shot. He drank it down immediately and asked for another. Sara frowned at him. "Did you drive here?"

"Actually I took a cab because I planned on getting drunk," he shrugged.

"Nice," she said sarcastically. "I'm turning you into an alcoholic."

He waved it off. "Nonsense, it's just a one time thing, besides I'm off the medication now, unless needed, so I felt it was time to let loose anyway. I mean after being chased through the woods, practically bleeding to death, then professing my love for a married woman while on my deathbed, to recovering and than having sex with said woman only hours after deciding she was divorcing her husband. I think I deserve a nice drunk day."

She scowled more. "I'm sorry, Greg. I'll try to stay out of your way until things are finalized. I don't want to make you have any more drinking binges. I'll leave you to your drinking and see you at work tomorrow, hopefully not too hung over."

As she rose to get up he toasted her. "Here's to us being able to move on with our lives someday."

She scowled a bit before saying good-bye to him.

He watched her leave and growled in frustration before the waitress served up another shot.

A couple of days went by and the rest of the lab once again noticed the tension between Greg and Sara. Nick pulled Greg onto a case with him so they could have a little talk about what was going on between his two co-workers.

Nick broke the silence in the trip out to the scene. "So Greg, what's going on between you and Sara? Prior to you two being shot out in the woods, you two were hardly talking. Then after that event you seemed to make up. Now the both of you are hardly speaking unless it's about a case. What's the deal?"

Greg sighed. He knew someone would bring it up eventually. The problem is he never really came up with a good answer. "We just have some differences of opinions on things and can't seem to come to an agreement. So until she decides what she wants to do, we've just decided to not get in each others way." He knew it was a poor explanation so he waited for Nick to pry further.

"That's rather ominous sounding. Almost sounds like you two have something going on," Nick chuckled.

Greg chuckled nervously in response. "Yeah right. No, I don't think so. She is Grissom's wife through and through."

"You know that whole marriage is still odd to me. I mean how can you just get married and be away from your husband for so long? I don't get those two," Nick said.

Greg shook his head as he looked out the window. "Me either, but they were always odd anyway," he shrugged.

"Well Grissom anyway," Nick added.

"True," he agreed. He still couldn't believe Grissom would let her go after all the years they spent trying to get together. It just did not make sense to him. If he had been in Grissom's place, he would have never been away from her as long as Grissom had been. He would not have taken her for granted like that.

"Well I hope you two work our whatever it is going on between you two," Nick told him.

"Yeah, I hope so too."


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N- Sorry I have not updated much. I've been working on another story because I sort of came to a road block on this one but I think I'll have it done soon now. Thanks for any and all reviews._

_

* * *

_

Nick was in the waiting room when Sara came rushing up to him. "Nick, I heard you brought Greg to the hospital. Is he okay?"

"I guess Catherine told you. Yeah, he's getting situated in a room right now. They believe he has acute kidney failure. They have to run more tests plus they are going to start him on some medications."

Sara sat down slowly and ran her hands through her hair. "Is he going to be okay?"

Nick sat down next to her. "I'm sure he'll be okay. The doctors will take good care of him," he told her as he put his arm around her.

"So how about you and Grissom? I heard he came to see you," he said to her.

She looked surprised. "Oh, yeah. He came to see me. We've been having some issues that he wants to try to work out. He took me by surprise by coming, actually," she told him, leaving out some of the truth.

"Where is he now?" he asked her.

"Oh, he's parking the car. He decided to come with me. I told him I had to see Greg right away."

"You two have had some tension between you. I hope everything is okay now."

"Things will be, they have to be," she said quietly.

"Are you here for Greg Sanders?" A doctor came up to them, asking.

"Yes, we are," Nick responded.

"Well, he can have visitors now. He is in room 513. He's going to be here overnight if not longer depending on test results."

Nick allowed Sara to see him first since she had been so worried.

Greg was sitting up in the bed with his eyes closed. He had an IV and a heart monitor hooked up to him. Sara was not sure if he was awake or not.

He heard the door close and opened his eyes. Sara smiled cautiously at him. She was not sure if he heard Grissom had returned or not and if he would be happy to see her.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" She finally asked him.

He shrugged a bit. "Been better, been worse," he paused a moment and then added. "So how are things between you and Grissom?" He glared at her accusingly.

She had prayed he had not heard but she should've guessed he would have found out. She sighed and came up closer to him. "Nothing like getting to the point," she said as she stood off to the side of his bed.

His noticed there was something bothering her, she seemed nervous around him. He had a feeling she was going to give him more bad news on top of the news he already had about his health. "Spill," he urged her.

She felt horrible for what she was about to say to him, seeing that he was in the hospital and all. "Grissom came to see me here. He's apologized for how he was last time we saw each other. He doesn't want a divorce anymore. He wants to try to work things out."

Greg's eyes narrowed at her. "And you told him what, exactly?"

Sara could see that he already knew what she was going to say. She looked down as she spoke. "I never wanted to hurt you, you know that. But," she paused and lifted her eyes to him as tears came to them. "He really means it. He's even willing to move back here to Vegas if that's what I want." She watched as he clenched his jaw in anger.

"And what did you say to him? Sure, I'll go back with you and break Greg's heart. Oh and by the way, did you know we slept together?" He said to her in an eerily calm voice.

She was about to reach out to him when he put his hand out to stop her. "No! I don't want to hear it. I already know what you are going to say. Yes to the first and no to the second, right?"

She looked at him as a tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm so sorry, Greg. I never meant for this mess to happen. I should have stayed away from you when I was vulnerable. I messed up and now I'm hurting you and I really never wanted that, I swear."

He closed his eyes and rubbed his hands over his face. He was hurting physically and now emotionally too but she was not all to blame. He shook his head out of his revere and sighed deeply, letting go of some of his anger. "It's not all your fault. It takes two to tango and I'm also to blame. I shouldn't have ever given in to my feelings for you. Somehow I always knew we would never work."

She finally sat down in the chair and gazed at him with watery eyes. "So what do we do now?"

He held her gaze a moment before speaking. "So he really came back and you're going to try to work this out, your marriage?"

She sadly nodded. "He feels horrible for how he treated me and said to me. He said that when we last talked he had a few very bad days with the research grant people giving him problems. He thought I didn't want our marriage since I was spending so much time away."

"We've decided we need to work on our communication with each other. We've always had issues with that," she explained to him, hoping he could see her reasoning.

"So then we are officially not pursuing each other further. We are over," he said with a frown.

She looked at him cautiously. "Can we still be friends?"  
He pondered a moment before replying solemnly. "I think we just need to take a break from each other completely, at least I do."

She was heartbroken but she understood. She knew she was hurting him by going back to Grissom. "Sure, I understand. I'll probably be taking a break from the crime lab anyway. But I'm still going to be worried about you. What do your doctors say?" she asked him.

"They took some blood and other tests but they think I have acute renal failure. Depending on what the test results say is how the treatment will go. I might have to go through dialysis or take medication they said. Dialysis being the worst option right now," he told her.

"Gosh, I hope not. Well, I know Nick wants to see you so I will be going. I hope you feel better. I still care, you know," she stated.

"I know," he said quietly. He knew it was probably hard for her to have feelings for two men.

She made a small smile before leaving his room. She saw Nick in the hall and said he could see him now. He was about to question why it looked like she had been crying but Grissom was there and he didn't want to bring it up in front of him.

Nick went into to visit Greg while Grissom spoke to Sara.

"You look upset. Is he in that bad of shape?" he asked her.

She shook her head as she tried to think of what to tell him. "He's not sure how bad it is yet. He might have to go on dialysis. It's just not fair after all he's…we went through," she sighed.

He smiled softly at her. "Well, I guess you two did go through a lot from what you told me. Of course it would have been nice to know you were in the hospital instead of finding out after you were already released," he added in a slightly accusation tone.

She looked at him apologetically. "I know I should have told you once I was in the hospital. I'm sorry. I just didn't want to worry you."

"Yeah, well from now on we tell each other everything, right?" He asked her.

She nodded with a sigh. "Yes, we will."

"I'm going to go see Greg," Grissom said to her.

She became alarmed suddenly. "Well, Nick's in with him now. I'm sure he'll be sleeping soon. Maybe you should wait until tomorrow."

"I'm here now, Sara. If he's too tired it will be a short visit then. Is there a reason you don't want me to see him?" he asked her.

She backed off, not wanting to cause suspicion. "No, not really. I'm just saying he was tired." She didn't know why she didn't want him to visit Greg.

"Look, here comes Nick. I'll go now," Grissom said to her. "Is he up for another visitor?" he asked Nick.

"Yeah, I'm sure he can handle another one. Go on ahead. He would probably love to see you," Nick smiled at him.

"Good, I'll be back in a few minutes then." Grissom smiled at Sara before heading off to see Greg.

Sara worried about how Greg might react to seeing him, but she figured it was bound to happen eventually.

Greg looked up, surprised to see Gil Grissom coming to visit him. He felt sudden guilt that he had slept with Sara, his wife.

"Hello Greg. I hear you've been through quite a lot lately with Sara; the shooting and now you're back here again due to complications," he said to him as he closed the door behind him.

Greg shrugged. "Yeah, well guess I am running a streak of bad luck. Nice to see you back in town. How are you doing?" he asked, trying to keep to small talk.

Grissom walked up closer and looked down at him. "Things have been better but hopefully we'll work things out now." He paused a moment, considering what he was about to say before saying it aloud.

"I do think it would be best if you stayed away from Sara, though, considering what happened between you two."

Greg's jaw dropped a moment, wondering what exactly he meant. He couldn't have known they slept together, could he? "I…well, uh, we sort of planned on staying out of each others business for awhile, since we seem to share bad luck, if that's what you mean."

Grissom's expression towards him turned more serious. "I'm not naïve, Greg. I know how she gets reckless when things turn bad for her and I know how you've felt about her for years now. She doesn't have to tell me what happened because I read the guilt in her eyes and now yours."

Greg quickly looked down and was starting to feel a bit nauseous as the guilt ate away at him. _He knew_ he should have figured he would somehow know.

"I'm so sorry, Grissom. I didn't want it to happen but she insisted your marriage was over. I still wanted to wait, but she was drinking and was coming onto me and I…I was stupid and weak." He finally looked up at Grissom's cold eyes. He knew his own bore the shame and guilt he felt.

Grissom stared a moment at the younger man, a man he had sort of considered as a son. He could see vulnerability in him, one that reminded him of the time he was with him in the hospital after he was beaten up. He knew he couldn't blame him entirely, he knew Sara too well and knew that he was probably telling the truth. Plus the kid was in the hospital, possibly with serous health issues. He didn't want to be too hard on him.

He finally sighed and took a seat. "Look, we all made mistakes. I had made one in telling her our marriage was over. I was angry at the time and taking it all out on her. It doesn't surprise me she would run off to be with you. I've always known you two shared feelings for each other, I guess I just never realized how strong. Now I know. So we all share the blame, but let's not make this any worse than it is already. I don't plan on telling Sara I know. I think it would be best if you didn't tell her I knew either."

Greg was shocked that he was asking him to keep the secret but he couldn't argue with him. He already felt like crap about the whole thing. Now not only did he have to live with the heartbreak, but now the guilt that Grissom knew. He supposed it was his punishment.

"I won't tell her you know and I won't go near her again," he told him.

"Well, you may still be working together and I don't want things to be awkward at work if you avoid each other. I just trust that there won't be a second time."

"No, Sir, there won't be. I've regretted that night since it happened. I'm truly sorry…I never," he stopped abruptly as a sharp pain went through his side.

Grissom noticed his grimace. "Do you want me to call the nurse in?" he asked cautiously.

He shook his head. "No, it'll pass…I hope anyway." It was even hurting to breathe. A few more seconds and the pain passed.

"Okay, okay, it's gone for now." He closed his eyes, as that had been the worst yet. He really did not need all of this now.

"Greg, I'm sorry I dumped this on you now. That was unfair of me. I just want you to know that I don't hate you for what happened. I'm just sorry the situation got to that point. I really hope you get better. Despite what's happened personally between us, I still think you're a great CSI and asset to the team. Take care of yourself." With that said he got up to leave.

"Thanks for being understanding, Grissom, it means a lot to me," Greg said quickly.

"I'm a man of reason, Greg," he said as he opened the door. "Get some rest," he said before going out the door and leaving Greg in a state of mixed feelings.

No matter what Grissom said to him, he still felt worse than he had prior to talking to him. He was just glad he was no longer his boss, but then again he would have never done it if he had been. He shook his head woefully as he pressed the button to give him a dose of morphine for his pain and be put to sleep.

"How did your visit go with Greg?" Sara asked Gil anxiously as he returned to her.

"I think it went well, but he seemed to have a moment of a shooting pain and that is when I knew he was not well."

"What else did you talk about?" she asked, thinking he'd been in there awhile.

He smiled kindly at her. "Oh, just catching up on things and more about what happened to you two in the woods. Not much else. He's sleeping now so why don't we get going," Grissom said to her. He was ready to put this behind them and move on.

"Yeah, okay, home then," she said quietly, still worried about Greg.

"Yes, our home," he said putting emphasis on our.

She smiled at him as he put his arm over around her waist and walked out the door with him.


	9. Chapter 9

A week later Greg was on prescription drugs for his kidney failure. His doctor believed that he was not bad enough to require dialysis, at least not yet. If not, they would've had to go to that method.

But that was the least of his problems. He had slumped into a deep depression since his talk with Grissom. No matter what he had told him, he still felt guilty as hell about sleeping with Sara and then angry that he couldn't share his guilt openly with anyone, especially her.

On top of all that was his heartache at knowing he lost her again to Grissom after she had given him hope that they had a chance.

He had gone back to work on light duty after a few more days of rest at home. He had been keeping to himself at work and avoiding any discussion about Sara and Grissom.

Sara was still on a leave of absence, taking time away to be with Grissom.

Nick had been working with him and noticed a change in his demeanor and asked him about it as they drove back from a scene.

"Hey, you know you've been in a funk since being diagnosed with the renal failure. I thought your doctor said it was not as serious as he thought and that you should be okay with treatment."

Greg sighed. "I just have a lot on my mind lately. I mean the medical thing is part of it but yeah overall it's not a life or death thing."

"Does any of this have to do with Sara not being around?"

He stared out the window and stated flatly, "No."

"Hmm, okay then." Nick knew he was lying but didn't want to push him on it right now. Greg was thankful he dropped the subject. He was starting to regret the day he ever laid eyes on Sara Sidle.

A few days later, he was leaving to go to his car in the parking garage at work when he saw Sara coming in. She had been back to work for two days now. He tried to detour to avoid her seeing him but he was not quick enough.

"Hey Greg! Hold up. How have you been feeling? I've been thinking about you," she said as she jogged over to him.

He shrugged his shoulders as he tried to avoid her eyes. "I've been feeling okay. How are you and Grissom?" He really did not want to know but he didn't want to be rude either.

"We're doing good. We actually have thought about looking for a house here. I'm going to go see Ecklie about changing to day shift instead. Grissom is seeing if he can get a job at UNLV as a teacher," she told him.

He finally looked at her and thought of how beautiful and happy she looked. It only made him feel worse. He knew he should be happy for her but he just couldn't be. "That's great, Sara. I'm glad things are working out." He tried putting a smile on his face to try to convey his false words.

"Yeah, well things are working out. I'm still so sorry you got hurt in the process," she said sincerely.

"Yeah, well I'm getting over it. Life goes on," he shrugged again, avoiding her eyes. He just wanted to leave now and never see her again, but he knew the latter was impossible if she was returning to the Crime Lab.

"Well, I'll let you go. I know we said we'd keep our distance. Glad to hear you're feeling better though," she said to him.

"Yeah, you too. Bye Sara," he said. He watched her leave and then went to his car.

He got into his car and slammed the steering wheel. "Damn it, stupid, stupid, stupid. You're an idiot, Greg, for letting her get to you like that," he yelled at himself. Feeling frustrated still, he decided to go home.

At home he had drank a couple of beers, which was totally against his doctor's orders. He sat in silence, thinking of how her hair framed her face and the way she looked at him. The love had not been there, he was not even sure it was ever present in her eyes. Maybe he imagined it because he was the rebound guy, the stupid fool.

He hated himself for falling for her again. Why was he weak when it came to her?

The drinking was not helping how he was feeling. He got up and took some of his pills and grabbed another beer while at it. He didn't want to feel anything at the moment. He just wanted to disappear from the world of hurt he felt for a little while.

As the day progressed, he stopped paying attention to what he was taking into his body. He just knew it was working and what he wanted.

Nick's truck would not start when he tried to leave for work. He tried calling Greg to get a ride in since he lived close by but he got his voice mail on both his home phone and cell phone. Finally he called Catherine to tell him he would be late. He discovered it was just his battery. A neighbor gave him a ride so he could buy a new one.

He called Catherine over an hour and a half later to let him know he was on his way. Catherine asked him to stop by Greg's since he had not come into work and she couldn't reach him.

Nick tried calling him as he was on his way and he still couldn't reach him. He pulled up to his condo complex and saw his car still parked outside. He went over to his door and knocked. After several tries and no response he took out his spare key he had for his place.

He opened the door and noticed the room was dark from the black out drapes being drawn. He called out Greg's name but got no answer. He flicked on a light switch and then saw him. He was on the sofa, lying down. He saw beer bottles and pill bottles on the coffee table. He became alarmed and rushed over to him.

"Greg!" he yelled as he approached him. He felt for a pulse in his neck when he did not respond. He got a rapid pulse. He glanced at the coffee table again and couldn't believe what he saw. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911.

After making the call, he stared down in worry at his friend. "What's wrong with you? You know better than this, to mix drugs and alcohol together. What's going on with you that would make you do this?" He shook his head woefully. "You better make it through this so I can kick your ass for being so stupid."

Nick let the paramedics in for Greg. He heard them say the words 'apparent overdose' and he still couldn't believe it. It had to be a mistake.

They put him on the stretcher and out to the ambulance. Nick followed them to the hospital. On the way there he called Catherine.

"I found Greg passed out on his sofa. It appears to be a prescription drug overdose. He's being taken to the hospital now," he told her.

"What? Greg? My God! Okay, um… I'll see if Sara can come in on her day off to help us out here. Let me know how he's doing as soon as you find out," she said to him.

"I will. Talk to you later when I have news." Nick parked at the hospital and went into the ER. The nurse told him they already had Greg in a room. Luckily they knew what he had taken since everything had been on his coffee table.

Meanwhile, Catherine had asked Sara to come in, but only said Nick and Greg both called out sick. She didn't want to worry her staff until she had more information on Greg's condition.

Sara had said she was always free to come in on a different shift on her days off.

As Sara started working the case with Catherine, she asked about Greg. "So Greg's sick today? Is it his kidney still?" she asked innocently.

Catherine avoided her eyes as she spoke. "Yeah, I guess. He didn't really say."

Sara thought a moment. "I saw him yesterday and he seemed okay. Nick told me Greg's not been himself lately. Has he said anything?"

Catherine agreed that he had been very sullen and non-sociable ever since he ended up in the hospital again. She thought it had to do with his medical problems but now she wondered if there was not more to it.

"He has not said anything. I assume it is due to his medical issues."

"Hmmm, I suppose," Sara replied, but she knew better. She was probably the main reason for his mood even though he would deny it. She sighed. She needed to talk to him again soon, she told herself. She refocused on the job at hand for now.

Nick was waiting for a chance to see Greg. The doctor came out to tell him that luckily it seemed to be an accidental overdose since he did not seem to have too many pills in his system.

"It was more than likely due to the combination of the pills he was taking and the alcohol," the doctor told him. The doctor advised him that he had come to briefly in the recovery room but had not remembered anything. He said he could visit him once he was settled completely into his room.

Nick called Catherine to update her on his condition. He told her what the doctor had told him about the accidental overdose. She was relieved to hear that. Of course it was still stupid of him to drink so much with his medications. They were going to have to have a serious talk about what was going on with him lately. She advised Nick to see if he could talk to him about it.

Nick finally was given permission to see him. He walked down the hall and frowned thinking about how many times he had been there to see his friend. It was very disconcerting.

He went into his room and saw him sleeping. He decided to sit with him for a while anyway. He was really wondering about what was going on in his life that made him do something so stupid.

He noticed Greg's eyes flutter open. "Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked him as he turned his head towards him.

Greg's stomach felt horrible and he had a massive headache. When he had opened his eyes, he realized he was in the hospital. He didn't remember waking in the recovery room. He saw Nick sitting there and replied. "I feel like crap. What happened?"

Nick frowned, feeling slightly annoyed that he did not remember. "I found you passed out cold on your couch, surrounded by empty beer bottles and your prescription pill bottles," he said in an accusing tone.

"Oh," Greg sheepishly said. He remembered now, vaguely, his mood and his desire to forget everything.

"What were you thinking doing that?" Nick scolded.

Greg couldn't look him in the eyes so instead he stared down at the foot of the bed. "A lots been going on in my mind lately, a lot of shit has been going on you don't know about. I guess I just wanted to forget for awhile."

"So you mix alcohol with your meds," he paused for a moment for effect. "Did you try to kill yourself?" He had to ask.

He thought a moment about it. Did he really want to die over Sara Sidle not picking him over Grissom? No, he realized, he didn't. "No, I was just…not thinking clearly, I guess." He looked at Nick again. "I don't want to die."

Nick inwardly took a huge sigh. He was afraid that he had done it on purpose. "You know, you can trust me if you really want to talk. I can keep a secret."

Greg rubbed a hand over his face. He wanted to talk to someone about how he was feeling. He was just afraid of what Nick might think of him after he heard. "I'm afraid you might think differently of me after I tell you," he admitted to him.

"I respect you, Greg. We've all done things we regret. I won't judge you."

Greg sighed. He was tired and felt like crap but he was sick of carrying around his guilt.

"Okay, I'll tell you." He proceeded to tell him everything, starting with his feelings for Sara and then confessing them to her when he thought they were near death. He told him about the aftermath including Grissom approaching him and letting him know he knew about the affair and having to keep it quiet.

"I just can't stand keeping all this to myself anymore. It's driving me crazy," he told him, emotionally trying to keep it together in front of his friend. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily. "I just don't know what to do."

Nick had sat completely quiet during his talk. He thought something was going on between him and Sara but he had no idea it had gone as far as it had. He also didn't know that Gil and her were having problems in their marriage. He had to admit it was harsh of Grissom to make Greg live with the guilt that he knew but wouldn't share it with Sara. He understood why he felt the way he did.

He finally spoke to him. "I had a feeling something was going on between you and Sara but honestly, not to this extent. It was wrong of her to play with your heart like that, though. I know you're trying to respect Grissom's wishes by not telling her he knows, but I think you need to tell him you can't hold it back anymore. You and Sara are staying away from each other, you've held to your side of the deal. I think you deserve a break from your guilt."

Greg shook his head a little. "I'm just thinking I need to get away from all of this for awhile but I have no time off left. I just need to clear my head without running into her all the time at work."

"Well, if you're willing, I can talk to Catherine about giving you a leave of absence. We can explain it with your medical problems. I mean, what you did today was really stupid, man, I have to say. It also scared the shit out of me."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry but haven't you just ever felt like wanting to forget everything, drowning your sorrows in liquor?" He asked, trying to plead his case.

Nick did know how it felt. "Yeah, I know but you got health issues as it is. You could've made things worse. I'm just worried for you."

"I know and I appreciate you hearing me out. I'm just exhausted from all of this," he told him.

"I know. I'll let you get some sleep now. I've kept you long enough. Get better, okay? I'll call you tomorrow." Nick smiled at him before leaving him alone.

Greg closed his eyes, feeling some relief at finally letting go of his secret. Some time away would help him get rid of his guilt and heartbreak. He drifted off to sleep hoping things would get better.


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N- Well sorry it took me so long to finish this but I kind of didn't know how to wrap it up. Plus I've been working on another fanfic that sort of became my priority. Anyway, this is the end of this one. Not one of my best stories but hope you enjoyed it anyway._

* * *

Nick came in halfway through his shift to the Las Vegas Crime lab. He had already called Catherine and told her he was coming in. The first person he ran into was Sara. He found himself looking at her differently now that he knew she and Greg had slept together. He couldn't help but partially blame her for Greg's incident today.

"Hey, I thought you called out sick." She said to him as she walked towards him.

"I was feeling better so I decided to come in since I knew Greg was out too," he told her.

"Uh, how has he been doing anyway? He's been really quiet when I've seen him lately." She said trying to see why he maybe called out sick.

Part of Nick wanted to blame her for him being in the hospital but Greg didn't want them to know. "Well, he's had a lot on his mind lately. I know he's been stressing out a lot about it, with his kidney problems and all."

"I guess. I'm just worried about him," she said softly.

"Yeah, I know. So how's Grissom doing? You two still house hunting?" He asked her.

"We are and he's doing pretty good. It's good that we usually are home at the same time to see each other more," she told him.

"That's good. Well, I better get off to work now," Nick said, not wanting to talk to her right then. He was still more concerned with Greg's wellbeing and talking to Catherine about some time off for him.

"Okay, I'll see you around." She watched him walk off and felt like he was hiding something from her.

Nick waited about Catherine's office for her to come back from Central where she had to see Brass about her current case.

She came in and saw him waiting for her. "Hey Nick. Any update on Greg?" she asked as she came to sit behind her desk.

"He said they are going to release him later today but he has to have some counseling," he told her.

"That's to be expected with what happened."

"Yeah and well he thinks and I agreed with him, that he needs some time off. He's dealing with a lot right now," he told her.

"He told you what's going on, didn't he," she said to him.

He nodded. "Yes, and its sort of a personal issue but work tends to affect it too."

"Well, that's vague. Are you trying to say it has something to do with work here?"

"Let's just say it's complicated and does involve someone else from work," he told her.

"Oh, I see." She had a feeling she knew whom. "So you did talk to him and it was an accidental overdose."

"Yeah, he knows it was stupid but he was really depressed and wanted to forget for one day, he said. I've been there, I can understand."

"Yeah, I guess I can too. I think time off would be good for him too. I'll see what I can do. He might be able to get FMLA with his medical so he should be okay. He'll just need to fill out the paperwork."

"I'll let him know. I told him I'd drive him home from the hospital."

"Good, now let me fill you in on this case," she said to him to get back to work.

Little did both know that Sara had been listening outside the door. When she heard that Greg overdosed, she got disturbed. She hadn't realized he was so depressed about their breakup. She had to see him. She wrapped up what she had to do with the case she was working on.

She called Catherine to let her know she finished up her work and had to leave early to do something. She called Grissom on her way to the hospital.

"Hey I'm not going to be home right away. I have to go someplace," she told him.

"Where are you going this time of the morning?" He asked her.

Should she lie to him or be truthful as she promised him, she wondered. She sighed as she made her decision. "I'm going to visit Greg in the hospital. He's sick again."

"I'll meet you there," he said to her surprise.

"You don't have to do that. He doesn't even know I'm coming," she explained, not wanting him to be there.

"So, I'm sure he would be happy to have some company," he said. He wanted to be around to see what was said.

"Look, I'm with you. We are working things out. Do you not trust me to be alone with him?" she said a little huffy.

"What is it you're not telling me, Sara? I can tell your holding something back."

"He's under a lot of stress and I don't want him to be nervous," she said.

"Sara," he said with a tone that told her to just spill it.

"I overheard that he was in the hospital. They didn't want everyone to know. I'm worried because he supposedly had an accidental overdose," she told him finally.

Grissom blew out a breath. He hadn't realized the younger man was dealing so poorly with everything that had happened. "I'll meet you there. We need to talk," he said to her and then hung up.

She wondered what he meant. It worried her as she drove to the hospital.

Greg sat in his hospital bed awake. The nurse had just been in to check on him. He still felt lousy physically and emotionally. He couldn't admit to Nick that a small part of him did have a death wish but it was a very small part.

He was sure now that what he really needed was time away from Sara. Not seeing her at all for even a couple of minutes a day would be so much better.

He heard his door open and looked up only to see the one person he didn't want to see. He cringed inside before suddenly wondering why she was there. Nick promised him he wouldn't tell her he was in the hospital.

He noticed she looked extremely worried. "What are you doing here, Sara? I'm not in the mood for visitors," he said bitterly.

"I was worried about you. I overheard what happened. I'm so sorry, Greg," she said to him as she walked up closer to his bed.

He shook his head. "No, don't …just stay there. What did you overhear exactly?"

She lowered her head. "That you had an accidental overdose."

He silently cursed. "So you just happened to overhear this?"

"I couldn't help myself. Nick was in Catherine's office and the door was cracked open. I heard your name and stopped to listen. What happened to you?"

He sighed. "I'm just stressed out and was not thinking clearly."

"You're stressed because of me and what happened," she said solemnly.

"Not everything is about you, Sara," he replied angrily.

"He's right you know," a new voice came into the room. Both Sara and Greg looked to see Grissom standing by the door. Greg felt a little nauseous all of the sudden.

"I…I didn't know you were coming too," he said sheepishly.

"I got Sara to tell me what happened." He walked closer to them. He looked at Sara. "I've been unfair to Greg. I think I'm partially responsible for his behavior. I've made him live with something that you are responsible for, too," Grissom said calmly.

Greg looked at Sara, whose eyes had suddenly widened in fear.

"What do you mean?" She asked cautiously. He couldn't know they slept together, could he? She thought.

"Sara, I know you and Greg had sex while we were apart. And Greg knows I know. I asked him not to tell you and I believe that guilt had been eating away at him. Am I right, Greg?" Grissom had turned from Sara's shocked face to the younger man's somber one.

Greg was not sure how to respond. He just wanted to disappear again and never have to face another soul.

"You knew and you didn't let me know but you let him live with that guilt alone?" Sara was suddenly fuming mad. She now knew why Greg had been avoiding her so much.

Grissom turned to her. "I thought if you didn't know I knew we could work things out faster between us."

"No, you wanted to punish Greg for our affair when it was mostly my fault. I knew how he felt for me and I took advantage of that when you said you no longer wanted me. I instigated it. I came onto him. He warned me to stop but I wouldn't listen. I wanted him that night because you no longer wanted me. I basically used him and in the end hurt him more than I ever wanted. Then you go and make him feel worse and now look where he is," she yelled.

Greg wanted to crawl out of the room and never be found again. Instead he turned to look out the window, hoping someone would fly in and save him. Sara had basically just admitted to using him. Way to make him feel better.

Grissom looked at Greg and saw him looking away. He seemed to be paler too. "Greg, I'm sorry…" he was cut off by the younger man.

"Can you two just please leave me alone now? I've heard enough," he said quietly.

Sara suddenly realized what she had said and felt horrible. "Greg, I didn't mean…"

"Just go!" He yelled as he turned to glare at her.

"Come on, he wants us to leave and I don't blame him. We have our own issues to work out," Grissom said to Sara as he took her arm and led her towards the door.

She was about to protest but she saw Greg turn away again and felt miserable for her actions. She did everything she said she wouldn't. She hurt him terribly and she knew it now.

"Okay, okay. We'll go. I'm so sorry for ever hurting you both," she said as tears formed in her eyes.

"Come on, let's go home," Gil said to her. They would talk when they got home. They would work on their mistakes and make things right between them again. He just hoped the younger CSI would be able to get over this. He hoped Nick and the others would help him. He hadn't realized how much Greg cared for her until this incident.

Nick walked in a few hours later and saw Greg looking very somber. "Hey, what's wrong? You're going home now."

The Californian looked at him. "Yeah, I know. Just not sure what I want to do anymore."

Nick sat down. "What do you mean?"

"Sara and Grissom were here earlier," he replied glumly.

"Crap. How did they find out you were here?" Nick asked, surprised.

"Apparently Sara overheard you talking to Catherine about me. She admitted she was snooping."

"So she knew everything? I'm so sorry she overheard us, G. I thought the door was closed," he apologized.

"I don't blame you. I blame her. I blame her for everything. You know Grissom told her he knew about us. Then she gets all mad at him and basically admits to Grissom she used me to feel better about their breakup. Can you believe that?" A little anger was seeping through his sadness.

"Wow, that really sucks. I know her and Grissom always seemed to have a crazy relationship but she was wrong to do that to you," Nick said sympathetically.

Greg shrugged. "Yeah, well I'm totally done with her. I don't think I can handle seeing her face again. I told them both to leave."

"Yeah, well your doc faxed your paperwork over for the medical leave, so you can take time away from her and the job for awhile."

Greg sighed in relief. "Good."

"So do you have any plans?" Nick asked him.

"I've been thinking about heading out to California and visit my family and friends out there for a bit while trying to get better. My doctor warned me I might need dialysis if I keep going this way."

"Well do whatever you need to take care of yourself. So are you ready to be sprung from this place?" he asked finally.

"Yep, as soon as my doctor clears me," he said, starting to feel a little bit better now that he was thinking about getting away.

Greg acted fast on his getaway plans. He had called his parents and informed them he was taking a temporary leave of absence due to his health.

They welcomed him home where he spent three weeks before returning to Las Vegas. He had kept in touch with Nick by email while he was away. Nick informed him that Grissom and Sara ended up moving out of town anyway.

Greg wondered if it was a decision they made together or some sort of ultimatum. In any case, he was relieved he wouldn't have to see Sara anymore.

Nick had picked him up from the airport and taken him home. Nick told him he could see the old Greggo coming back as they chatted in the car.

Greg had been home a few hours and was working on his laptop when he got a video chat prompt. It was from Sara. He knew she had moved to Chicago with Grissom. They both got new jobs there. He figured he could deal with her now that she was far away and were only communicating via a computer.

He accepted the video chat and saw her face pop up on the screen. She looked nervous even over the miles.

"Hey Sara," he said, deciding to speak first.

She smiled at that. She noticed he looked better than he had in weeks, plus he looked tan. "Hi Greg. I know you pretty much hate me and never want to talk to me again but I just wanted to clear the air between us some."

"I don't hate you, Sara. I'm angry and hurt over what happened but I'm a big boy and I know we both made mistakes. I let my emotions get the better of me. We live, we learn. I got over you before, I will again. This time it will just be a little harder but my time away helped," he told her.

She felt warmness in her heart hearing him say that. "Do you think we'll ever be friends again?" She asked him.

He pondered the thought a moment. "Give me a bit more time, a bit more space and then I think I can go back to being friends."

She pouted a little. "I understand."

"So uh, Chicago, huh?" He asked casually.

"Yeah, Northwestern offered Grissom a job and well, the Crime Lab here can always use people, they told me. Plus he has family here, believe it or not, some cousins. So I think it's going to work out for us this time around," she said to him.

"Well I hope for everyone's sake it does."

"So uh, you have my email address so whenever you want to talk again, you know how to reach me," she said sheepishly.

"Yes, I know how to reach you. I need more time though, like I said. I hope things go well between you and Grissom though. I think all along I knew that it would never last between us. You always had a fascination with him. I just amused you most of the time," he said to her.

She shook her head. "No, you more than amused me, you were my best friend and I hate that I ruined that. I just hope someday again we can be friends."

"I'm sure we will be again someday. Tell Grissom I wish you both the best in Chicago. I need to be going though. I have things to do," he said to her. He still felt some hurt inside seeing her and talking to her. He could only deal with her for so long right now.

"Okay, sure I will. Take care Greg. I do love you, as a friend, I hope you know that," she said sincerely to him.

"I do. Bye Sara." He said and then closed the chat window. He hung his head hearing her confess her love for him. He should have known it would always be as a friend. He would always regret his confession to her when he thought he was going to die that he loved her. That triggered the whole set of events. Now he knew better to not confess his feelings to a woman who was married. He vowed to steer clear of any co-workers or any women who are in the process of getting a divorce because they don't always complete that process.

His phone rang. It was Nick. He picked it up. "What's up Nick?"

"Hey I was wondering if you wanted to hang out this evening at Club Mirage?"

He thought for a moment. He knew what Nick meant for him by going out. "Okay sure, why not? Just don't set me up with any of your girlfriends. I'm not ready yet."

He heard Nick laugh on the other end. "Okay, sure. We'll just go out and have some fun. I'll come by in a couple hours to get you."

"No, how about I come by to get you. I'll be the designated driver since I have to stay away from alcohol still. So you can drink up while I sip my water," he chuckled.

"You're on! See you later."

Greg hung up and had a smile on his face. Sara was moving on and so it was time for him to move on.

The End


End file.
